


Spring's New Dawn

by LAHH



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Hogwarts House Sorting, Gen, Harry Potter Epilogue Compliant, Harry Potter Next Generation, Not Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Compliant, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, Riddles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-04
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2020-10-06 23:22:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 28,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20515181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LAHH/pseuds/LAHH
Summary: They fought, and they died, for peace. Yet how can you have peace when you split your people into quarters from the start? Should the answer be to dispose with millennia of tradition? Can anyone bring themselves to do away with Sorting? Imported from fanfiction.net





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A Harry Potter Next Generation fic, imported from FF.net. Picks up straight where the 7th book ends.

As the train drew out of the station, Harry and Ginny began to make their way back to the other two.

"I guess we should go now," he began, before being suddenly interrupted.

"Luna!" Ginny cried, as she had just seen Luna and her husband emerge from the clouds of steam that were clearing as the train departed. "I was looking for you!" She hugged both Rolf and Luna, as did Hermione, whilst Harry and Ron did the same for the latter but decided on a handshake for the former.

"I thought the twins were going to start late, since you couldn't get back from Timbuktu in time," Ginny continued.

"Tuvalu, actually. And the Kirin gave us a hand." Luna said calmly. Rolf kissed his wife.

"They did, in fact. At least, they let us see them, which meant we needed to get back here post-haste to get the pictures to the IMC." The IMC was the Institute of Magical Creatures, an organization independent from the Ministry, which had been set up by Hermione several years ago. It had attracted both Luna and Rolf to work there, and had in fact been the site of their first meeting.

"So we dropped Lorcan and Lysander off first," Luna finished. "It's good that way. Your first Hogwarts train ride can be very important. All sorts of friendships get formed, at least, if you make any."

Some things didn't change in nineteen years. Luna's comments could still have the effect of causing an uncomfortable silence.

"It's a pity we couldn't get in touch," Hermione sighed. "It would have been nice for them to sit together on the train."

"Not if you want the train to get there in one piece," Ron muttered. Harry and Rolf, the only two who heard him, grinned.

Lily frowned. "Dad, why can't I be starting Hogwarts! Everyone else is!"

"Not everyone," Harry pointed out. "There's still Hugo, Louis and Frank…" He trailed off.

After all, Lily was mostly right. Other than her, Louis and Hugo, all the other Weasley children had started school. Of their friends, Lorcan and Lysander were the only offspring of Luna and Rolf. Neville and Hannah still had two, soon to be three, children left to send, including Frank, who was in the same year as Lily, but Alice, their eldest, was starting that year.

Lily glared after the train. "I bet they're having lots of fun," she sulked. Inside, she was pouting even more. Rose had been like a sister to her, and losing Lorcan, Lysander and Albus all at the same time made it worse. _"It's all going to change,_" she thought unhappily. "I don't want things to change, why can't they just stay the same."

She was right about the train. Albus and Rose hadn't managed to find anyone else they knew, although James hadn't abandoned them straight away. He'd given them, Albus especially, a quick pointer on magical history - namely that all the stories that they had been told as children were true, and their parents were the heroes in them. With all the adapatability of children, particularly children who had picked up on a lot of this before, they'd accepted this and moved on. They were now having a great time on their own. As they played game after game of Exploding Snap, and talked happily about the lessons they thought they'd like at Hogwarts, not to mention getting to see the Forbidden Forest! James had already boasted that he had ventured in twice, and Albus was determined to do the same.

Fifteen minutes before they were due to arrive at Hogwarts, James stuck his head around the door.

"Don't forget to get changed into your robes," he reminded them, every inch the bossy older brother. Rose flapped a hand at him.

"We know, we know," she said. "Now go away. I'm beating Al at chess." Rose had inherited her father's love for the game, and had played against him for years. She'd not managed to beat him in a fair game yet, although he'd given up playing with a handicap just that summer.

James snorted. "Of course you are. Don't you ever get bored of losing to a girl, Al?"

"Don't you ever get bored of sounding like an idiot, James?" Rose retorted before Albus had the chance to reply. Deciding to quit whilst he was ahead, as nobody could defeat Rose in the sarcastic putdown, James left.

* * *

"Firs-years! Firs'-years, over 'ere!"

Hagrid was stood by the shores of the lake, boats bobbing beside him and a crowd of frightened looking children gathering nearby. Until, that is, a red-cheeked blonde-haired girl ran up and flung her arms around him. She was being trailed by another blonde, this one tiny, with wavy hair that ran right down her back. The girls were being followed by two boys, identical in size and shape although one had dark brown hair and the other had hair in a familiar blonde shade.

"Alrigh', Alice," Hagrid nodded down at the girl whose arms currently encircled his knees. Alice Longbottom, grinned back up at him, ignoring the stares of the other students who were wondering what kind of bravery it was that led someone to hug such a tall person. Of course, it was just that Alice, as the daughter of the Herbology Professor and Deputy Headmaster, had spent most of her childhood wandering round the grounds of Hogwarts.

"Yeh'd be the Scamander twins, then?" Hagrid said to the two boys.

The blonder boy nodded, introducing himself. "Lysander," he said, omitting his last name as always, irritated by how his parents had named him with a rhyme.

The brown-haired twin, Lorcan by process of elimination, nodded and answered. "Technically, although since our family has had lots of generations of twins, we're not really the only ones. And since you know our mother, not our father, in your mind we're probably the Lovegood twins."

Hagrid blinked once, twice, and then nodded. "I guess you tek after yeh mother then." He turned to the other child, speaking particularly quietly now. She seemed so small that she was liable to break if anyone even looked at her. "And who migh' yeh be?"

"Amelia Creevey, Professor. Or Lia." She replied shyly, trying to meet his eyes and failing, as they were simply too high up for her head to tilt back and see.

"Nice teh meet yeh, Lia." He said gravely.

The group of first-years had been growing throughout this exchange, and Hagrid looked around now, straightening up. "Righ' is that it?" he muttered to himself. "No, can't be, I'm still missing Al and…."

"Sorry we're late, Hagrid," Rose panted, racing up with Albus. "We were a bit delayed getting into our robes."

"Not to worry," he answered. "So, if we're all here now? Ev'ryone, get on a boat. Eight people teh each boat."

"Eight?" Rose wondered aloud. "Mum said it was four."

"Maybe it's changed," Albus answered, as he hopped into a boat that had only one occupant. "Hi! I'm Albus Potter. Is it alright if we join you?"

"Plenty of room," she answered, waving her arm past the rows of seats. "Aisha Siddiqui."

"Rose Weasley," Rose added, as she too clambered into the boat, closely followed by the twins, Alice Longbottom and Lia Creevey.

A flurry of introductions followed, after which a brief silence fell.

"Hurry up," called Hagrid. "Everyone needs to get into a boat."

The seven of them looked up to see the last students filter onto the boats, leaving one stood still on the shore. With all five of the other boats filled, and Hagrid in a boat of his own, theirs was the only one with a seat still remaining. However, when he stepped closer towards it, most of them understood why he had hesitated.

"I don't believe this," Scorpius Malfoy muttered, as he settled himself gingerly onto the far most edge of the boat, as though they might bite.

"Aisha Siddiqui," the original occupant of the boat offered.

"Scorpius Malfoy," he said smoothly. "And I don't really feel up to talking, thanks."

"Oh, do you get seasick?" Lia asked sympathetically.

Alice, Rose, Albus and Lysander all stared at her. "Doesn't she know who he is?" Rose whispered to Albus.

Lorcan, on the other hand, chipped in with "It's often due to Nautiloids, rocking the boat directly under you."

Scorpius stared at him for a long moment. "I guess some things are genetic," he murmured.

"Hey!" Lysander snapped. "If you've got something to share, say it so we can all hear."

Scorpius eyed him, then shook his head. "I'm good, thanks."

Alice let out a slight snort. _"He's 'good'_" she repeated in her head. "_Did he phrase it like that on purpose_?"

Scorpius' clear grey eyes flicked to her for a moment, but he let it drop.

Minutes passed in an uneasy silence. A quiet conversation started between Albus, Rose and Alice. Lia, who was sat beside Aisha, spoke to her whilst the twins presumably talked, though they did so with such lowered voices that it was almost as if they were communicating silently. Then…wham!

The boat shook. "What was that?" Rose asked, her voice trembling slightly.

"It's probably just the Giant Squid," Lia said soothingly.

"Just?" Aisha asked.

"It's nothing to worry about. My dad fell in once, and it fished him right back out."

"And the fact that we can't see the other boats? Should I worry about that?"

The others spun around, making the boat rock dangerously. The fog had thickened, meaning that the other boats had gradually faded until they were barely pinpricks of light from the lanterns at their bow. Then the lantern at their own bow flickered once, dimmed then went out.

It was pitch black.

"Where are the stars?" Lorcan asked without surprise. "And the moon?"

It was nearly the full moon, and they should have been able to see something, no matter how thick the fog. But it was black all around them.

"You're all wizards, right?" Aisha said, her voice, like Rose's, sounding decidedly shaky. "Can't you do some magic?"

"We haven't started school yet," Lysander replied. "We don't know any magic."

"Besides, you're a wizard too – or a witch, at any rate." Alice pointed out. "Or you wouldn't be here."

"I think she means that she's Muggleborn," Scorpius spoke, the first time he had done so since just after getting on the boat.

"Trust you to point that out," Alice muttered.

"Oh, jump off that high horse you're sitting on," he snapped back. "Or you might fall into the lake, and Merlin knows that _that_ would be a disaster."

The wind picked up, preventing them from hearing any further conversation. Rose's hair, curly at its best, could now only be described as a mane, although nobody was there to see it. Something whipped across Lorcan's face, but he was pretty certain that it was only Lia's long hair.

Sensibly, Aisha had tied her long black hair up into a pony tail, and Alice had cut hers to her chin only a week ago. The boys were equally lucky, though the Scamander twins, who hadn't had close access to a barber in the last few weeks, still found themselves spitting strands of hair as all eight of them, in a silent and unanimous decision, began to scream for help.


	2. Chapter 2

The three couples had turned to leave Platform Nine and Three-Quarters when they saw yet another familiar face.

"Neville!" Ron called. "Good to see you, mate. Shouldn't you be on that train that just left, though?"

The man in question turned to face them. He was unrecognizable as the round-faced boy who had first attended Hogwarts. The twin scars that lined his cheeks gave him an occasionally frightening expression until, as always happened before long, his face split into a wide grin. As it did now.

"Nope," he called easily, stopping walking so that they could reach him." They backed to a wall, out of the way of the stream of parents departing after seeing their beloved offspring back to school (or celebrating the beginning of a few precious months together without any distractions.) "I'm just here to check that it leaves safely, and send a message to the Headmistress that it's on its way."

"Of course," Hermione gasped. "The new Headmistress. What's she like?"

When the War had ended, McGonagall had not wanted the post of Headmistress but nor had any of the other Professors at Hogwarts. After much persuasion, McGonagall had taken it on, but she had at last forced the governors to let her retire in peace. Neville, however, who had been the Deputy since taking over as Head of Herbology eight years ago, had refused it, saying that he was too inexperienced plus, with his own children coming through the school, he didn't think the timing right.

So the Board of Governors had drafted in someone else, a teacher from MIAOW – the Massachusetts Institute and Academy of Wizards.

Neville grimaced.

"That bad?" Ginny asked teasingly.

"No- well, it's not that she's bad as a person. Just…I guess I can tell you now. It's a chance to delay telling Hannah, which I'm scared out of my wits about."

"You faced down Voldemort, Neville," Rolf pointed out. "How bad can she be?"

Ron and Harry both laughed. "If she's anything like Ginny was when she was pregnant, I expect you'd rather take on Voldemort again twice over," Harry grinned. Then winced as the redhead in question dug an elbow into his side.

"What do you mean, 'you can tell us now'" Hermione asked slowly. "What haven't you told us before?"

"We couldn't tell anyone," Neville sighed. "Bound by magic, like all the kids will be. Otherwise it won't work, apparently."

"What won't work?" Hermione pressed.

"The new Sorting system. Redetta Adams – our new Headmistress – concocted it, with the Sorting Hat. Other than Filius, who helped set up the Charms – well, being the Charms Professor, he would do – we're a bit clueless. It's completely safe, apparently. I wouldn't have trusted her with Alice, otherwise. But I don't think that'll satisfy Hannah.”

"What's completely safe?"

Worried now, Ron had joined in on the questioning and they were all listening intently.

"Like I said, I'm not precisely sure. Redetta said that 'the Sorting system was flawed at heart' and that it 'encouraged division and distrust.'" He dropped the hands he had been using for air-quotes and frowned. "It's not that I don't agree – it's just that I don't see how her idea, which seems to involve them going on some sort of quest, will be any better. At least, it might make Sorting fairer, but they'll still be Sorted, and they'll still be separate. You can't have inter-house competition if you want inter-house unity."

"Well, you can." Luna spoke up. "Women and men try to be rivals in lots of ways, but we still get on."

Rolf kissed her head. "She's got a point. And I know I didn't go to Hogwarts, so maybe that rules me out of a vote, but there did seem to be problems with it."

"Like what?" Harry asked.

"Like choosing where you can go." He held up his hands to stop the protest. "I know, I know. It's not who you are, but who you choose to be. But, what eleven year old chooses things for the right reasons?"

"Rolf's got a point," Hermione said slowly. "All those purebloods, choosing to be in Slytherin because they were afraid not to. People choosing Houses to be with their friends, or to fit in with their families."

"You knew you were smart, though." Harry pointed out. "And you still chose Gryffindor."

"I know. But that was because everyone I knew back home would have expected me to choose Ravenclaw. But I wanted to be a bit different from that at Hogwarts."

"Because that worked," Ron muttered.

"It did! I didn't end up just a bookworm- oh, don't laugh! I ended up with real friends, and got involved in something that was actually important. Choosing Gryffindor changed me. And it's really sad that, if I hadn't had that sudden impulse to change things, things might have turned out so differently. I could never had made friends with you guys."

"I guess," Harry said slowly. "After all, I don't think that, even if I had chosen Slytherin, I would have become a Death Eater."

"But the DA wouldn't have been formed. And then it wouldn't have been there in Seventh Year." Ginny shared a look with Luna and Neville. "If people hadn't had that, then, the Final Battle might have turned out differently."

"Look, this second-guessing isn't going to get us anywhere," Ron said impatiently. "Maybe Harry would have turned out a self-centred prat, maybe he wouldn't. It happened how it happened. Let's be glad it did. Though I still don't see why some random American would know the problems with our Sorting system."

"She wasn't actually born in America," Neville answered. "Her family is from here – in fact, her nephew died in the last Battle. Roger Davies. He was with Charlie and the reinforcements. So she does have a reason to care. I just hope that it works."

Ginny sighed. "Hopefully, our kids will end up where they belong. And no matter where that it, I think we should make sure they stay friends with other Houses."

"United we stand, divided we fall," Luna recited.

"Exactly. But we don't want them to have to stand. We don't want an environment where you can produce another Dark Lord. Or at least, don't give them a whole quarter of the population as readymade servants. This idea of Professor Adams has to work. For the future of the wizarding community."

* * *

Right at that moment, the collective futures of the wizarding community were lying, soaking wet, on a beach.

Aisha rolled over and groaned. "Great. Now I have sand stuck all over me."

She stood up, Lia with her and the two of them tried to brush it off.

"It might have escaped your notice, but there are slightly more important things," Alice pointed out. "Like, say, the complete lack of a castle anywhere around us."

"So, this doesn't normally happen?" Aisha asked.

"Not that I've ever heard," Albus grunted, spitting sand out of his own mouth. He staggered to his feet. "Where _are_ we?"

"A beach." Lorcan answered.

"Not exactly helpful," Lysander replied.

Rose took in her surroundings. "Well, it's suddenly daylight. And it was early evening."

"From the look of the Sun, it's midday now." Alice looked down at the sea, and studied it for a second. "And the tide is definitely coming in."

"Should we move, then?" Scorpius suggested.

Alice glared at him. "Oh, so you made it here too."

"No need to sound _quite_ so disappointed," he replied.

"Can I just ask, what is the problem with you two?" Aisha interrupted. "Do you have, like, a life-long feud or something?"

"No." Scorpius replied. "Never met her in my life. In fact, we've not even been introduced."

"You know who I am though."

"Of course. I've seen my Dad's school pictures, and you look enough like your Mum to make it plain. That's why they don't like me, by the way," he added over his shoulder to Aisha. "My Dad was didn't get on with their parents at school."

"I'd say it was a bit stronger than 'didn't get on'," Alice snapped. "Your Dad used the Cruciatus on my Dad!"

"And my Mum slapped Scorpius' Dad in the face," Rose interrupted. "And Albus' Dad cursed his Dad. And his Dad cursed Al's Dad. And my Mum attacked my Dad with yellow canaries. And Alice's Mum thought Al's Dad was the Heir of Slytherin, and was going around attacking Muggleborn students. And the twins' Mum - she was, well , there."

Lysander snorted. Albus grinned. Aisha blinked. "I don't think my parents did anything quite that interesting at school."

Lia smiled at her. "My Mum didn't either. Unless you count nearly getting run over by a lawnmower while she was skiving off PE."

Lorcan was facing the opposite way to this entire argument. "Astonishing, isn't it?" He remarked. "How some people can totally ignore the important things in life."

"I'd say that the people who seemed to be stranded here getting on is pretty impor- oh. Oh my-." Aisha finished, her voice getting higher as it reached the last syllables.

"What is it, Lorc," Lysander asked, also turning around. He froze. "Whatever you do, don't move."

"Wh-" Rose began as she turned, only to fall silent. She backed away.

"What the hell is that?" Albus asked, also completely distracted from the argument.

"_That_ would be a Chimaera." Alice said faintly. Like Rose, she backed away. Albus stepped in front of them.

"Aisha, Lia, get away from it." Albus said firmly.

Aisha stared at him. "I'm a girl, not an invalid. From what you've said, I think I'm just as qualified to face down this monster as you are."

"Forget the girls, Lorcan, get away from it!" Lysander snapped. "You're almost petting it on the nose!"

"Maybe you should stay back a bit then," Lorcan replied calmly.

"You should get back too, Malfoy." Albus added.

"You first, Potter." Scorpius retorted. He had angled himself so that, like Albus, he was between Rose and Alice and the Chimaera. Aisha stood in line with them, with Lysander a little bit in front, trying to pull Lorcan back. Lia was helping him, to no avail.

"You lot, go to the side. I'll distract them." Albus ordered.

The others didn't seem eager to implement his orders. Alice glanced around the landscape again. She'd already taken it in once – it was hard not to, when it was so different to what you'd expect. A sandy beach, a distant forest. The blue ocean at their back. And the eight students, facing a mythical beast.

_"We make an interesting picture,_" she thought, eyeing the lines of the pattern along which they had arranged themselves. Little Lia, who she'd sat with on the train, and who clearly could never find a bad word to say about anyone. She looked like a child princess, long blonde hair, pretty blue eyes and tanned skin. Lorcan next to her, equally tanned skin and with hair like his father's in a dark brown.

"_Four more of us, one pace back_." She moved on, to Lysander, identical to Lorcan but for Luna's blonde hair, which was as over-long as Lorcan's and covered his eyes. Aisha, shoulder-length black hair still tied in a ponytail, who was new to this whole world but still stood bravely in line with the three purebloods. She stood equal in height to Albus, but with one stern brown hand held in front of him, to stop him charging forward and the other in front of Scorpius. As far as she could tell, those two boys resembled their fathers, down to the round glasses in Al's case and just as closely in Malfoy's case, from what she'd seen in school photographs and glimpses of Draco Malfoy as he'd gone through the Leaky Cauldron (surrounded by glares) to reach Diagon Alley.

Then Rose, stood, like Alice herself, behind the protection that the others were giving, with the curly ginger hair that marked her as a Weasley. She was covered in freckles, up and down muscled arms and coating her face so thickly that you could almost believe it was just one big freckle. "_Do I have to consider myself now_?" Alice wondered, amused at how she'd so easily dropped into the sweeping phrases of description that her Writing Professor had criticised her for, and that she learned from reading the pink-bound books her Mum kept on a back shelf in their bedroom.

_"Blonde hair that always frizzes, cut to my chin in a style that hairdresser told me looked sophisticated, but instead just makes my face rounder. Quite short, but not as little as Lia. Too fat, though I could flatter myself and say I'm 'plump'. Like I'm some sort of food - which I will be, if I don't concentrate! Merlin, Alice. Find an escape. We could swim for it – no, that won't be fast enough. We could throw the boat at it – if we could lift it. We could throw an oar – hang on, that boat didn't have oars before!"_

"The boat has oars!" she called frantically. With the exception of Lorcan and Lia, they all turned to look.

"We can escape in it," Albus gasped. "If-"

"If you're going to suggest that you distract them while we all run to the boat, I'll throw you in the ocean." Scorpius snapped.

"Because that would be productive," Aisha retorted. "Why don't we all start backing towards the boat-"

"No." Lysander said. "Chimaeras know what backing away is. They're like cats – it'll just make them pounce."

"And right now, we're the mice." Lorcan added.

"If we keep the Chimaera occupied," Lysander started, only to be cut off by the chorus of protests. "Oh, calm down. I'm not saying we keep it occupied while you all sail away. If two of you walk really casually towards the boat, then sail it round here. It shouldn't notice it when it's in the water, it'll just dismiss it as part of the driftwood. Then we can all get in, and all get away. No heroic self-sacrifices today."

The plan seemed to have generally been agreed to be a good one. Alice and Rose turned to stroll towards the boat. The Chimaera's head flicked towards them.

"We need to distract it," Lysander said tensely.

"Wow," Lorcan muttered, reaching towards the snakes lining the Chimaera's face. They reared and hissed. "Do you think they move with its intent, or just randomly."

"Could we possibly distract it in a _less_ fatal way," Lysander interrupted.

"You know, you remind me a lot of my cat, Velly," Lia muttered to the Chimaera. "You're beautiful, just like her. And very impressive." She spoke in a soothing tone, much like you would to a cat, or a baby.

To their astonishment, it seemed to work. The Chimaera turned its attention to the little blonde girl.

"I bet you don't drink milk, though," She continued. "What do you drink?"

"Blood, generally," Lorcan said airily.

"Sorry you asked?" Albus muttered.

"Guys!" It was whispered from behind them. "We've got the boat."

Aisha and Lysander risked a glance. The boat bobbed only a few paces behind them, although it was a few more behind Lorcan and Lia. "How do we all get there?" Aisha muttered.

Lorcan smiled at the Chimaera. He waved.

"What in the name of the Crumple-Horned Snorkack are you doing, Lorcan?" Lysander hissed.

"See my hand," Lorcan said to the Chimaera. He waved it in a circle around the creature's face. To the childrens' astonishment, it followed his hand around with its gaze. "It's going round, right. Oh, and look," he circled it once, twice, and then flung it out to their right, the opposite direction from the boat. Something flew from his open palm.

"Run," he continued, in the same calm tones, belied by the way both he and Lia were racing for the boat.

The Chimaera whipped its head to look where his hand had flung out, pouncing on a spot a few metres from where they had stood. By the time it recovered and spun back to look at them, they were all safely on the boat, and rowing out, away from the shore.

Everyone was staring at Lorcan. "How did you get it to do that?" Albus asked. "Chase something that wasn't there?"

"Oh, that's simple. I had a cat once. It always followed my hand, then if you threw some food, it would chase it."

"But you didn't have any food," Rose pointed out.

"No, but I had milk." He turned his hand over. There was a splinter in his finger. It didn't look particularly dramatic, although another drop of cherry-red blood was oozing out of it. "I had this when we woke up on the beach. I just had to squeeze it a bit, and there you go."

The others fell silent for a moment. "Thank you," Lia whispered. "That might have saved our lives."

Lorcan shrugged. "I'm glad I got to discover something – the snakes just follow where the Chimaera is looking. Shame really, it'd be a much better hunter if they could look the other way. Then it wouldn't have had to take its eyes off us."

"Then we'd be eaten," Aisha added. "Not to put a dampener on things or anything."

"Speaking of dampeners," Scorpius said, "that storm looks like it's coming this way. We really want to get off this boat before then."

"You know, that's _actually_ a good point." Alice sighed.

"Oh, by Salazar's seven slugs! Could you drop it, already! Get this into your head." Scorpius leaned closer. "I. Am. Not. My. Father. Get it? I definitely don't have the same opinions he had, and have you even _considered_ that he might have changed? No. Because you are far too busy being Miss Morally Superior."

"Could somebody, please, explain this to me!" Aisha cried. "I am getting seriously annoyed by how there are all these family secrets running around, and I don't get any of them."

Rose sighed and turned to look at her. "How much do you know about recent wizarding history?" she asked.

"There was a really evil guy, basically your version of Hitler, and a battle, and the good guys won."

"Succint," Alice muttered.

"Who's Hitler?" Albus asked.

"A Muggle version of Voldemort," Rose answered. "He believed that pure-bloods were people with blue hair and blonde eyes, and those who looked different, especially the Jewish and gypsies were inferior races. So he went around killing everyone like that, along with people who were mentally ill."

"His total death toll exceeded more than eleven million, not counting all of the deaths in the war." Lia said. When the others turned to look at her, she shrugged. " I did a project on it in History. I thought it was strange how similar it was to our parents' War." She wasn't about to tell a whole group of strangers how her grandmother, her mother's mother had been Jewish, and a refugee who'd never made it further than the coast before falling in love with a fisherman.

"Anyway, Voldemort was the evil guy," Rose continued. "He was basically in power before our parents were born, but he was thrown out of his body when Al's Dad was just a little baby."

"By Grandma Lily sacrificing herself for Dad," Albus put in.

"So everyone celebrated. But then he came back, when my parents, Scorpius' Dad, Alice's parents, and Al's Dad was in their fourth year. Nobody believed Al's Dad though, at least not the government."

"But my Mum, Lia's uncle and Alice's, mine and Al's parents did. And they carried on believing it through the year, even though the Ministry was really mean to them. And they started a group called the DA to learn Defence spells. But at the end of the year, there was a battle at our government buildings against Voldemort's followers, the Death Eaters, and Voldemort appeared, and then everyone believed that he was back." Rose paused. She looked awkwardly at Scorpius.

Alice cut in. "Malfoy's Grandad was one of those Death Eaters, and his Dad had always bullied our parents-"

"Okay, I get to tell this part." Scorpius interrupted. "I think I'm most qualified, don't you? My dad became a Death Eater, to replace my Grandpa. And he got told to kill the Headmaster of Hogwarts, and throughout that year he tried, and then finally he succeeded at getting Death Eaters into Hogwarts, though in the end the person who killed the Headmaster was a double agent who had been in the castle the whole time, and who had arranged it all with the Headmaster earlier."

"That wasn't any different to how I would have told it," Rose said, injured at the insult to her skill as a storyteller.

"No, but you would have tiptoed around the point for hours." Scorpius replied.

"Anyway," Rose continued, resuming the mantle of storyteller. "Over that summer, Voldemort took power completely, of the government and of Hogwarts. My parents and Al's Dad went off to try stop him, whilst my Mum, Alice's parents, Lia's Dad, the twin's Mum and most people went back to school."

"Where Voldemort was now in charge, and running things so that everyone was taught his main idea – Muggleborns were inferior, purebloods were best. And he tortured people who didn't agree, or rather, got students like my Dad to torture them." Scorpius added.

"And Al's mum, Alice's Dad and the twin's Mum started up the DA again, and fought against him inside the school. Then, at the end of the year, there was a big battle, during which lots of people died, but we won." Rose said.

Scorpius carried on. "Then my grandfather, and grandma, and father were put on trial for being Death Eaters, and my Grandfather went to wizarding prison, but Grandma and Dad were let off."

"On account of how his Grandma had saved Al's Dad's life, and how his Dad never really wanted to be a Death Eater in the first place." Rose finished.

A long silence followed this explanation. Then Lia spoke. "Did none of the Death Eaters die?"

"Yes." Scorpius answered. "Including my great-aunt, and my Dad's ex-girlfriend. But my family were apparently too busy trying to find each other, plus my Dad got saved by Al's Dad a couple of times."

Alice frowned at Lia. "Don't you know all of this, anyway?" she asked. "After all, you're Dennis Creevey's daughter, right?"

"Yes. But he didn't tell me any of the names of what happened in the war. He told me what happened, and that my uncle died fighting, but he said that there was no need to 'name names and point fingers.'" She shrugged. "He says that it's his job, as a Healer, to heal wounds and although he can't Heal his own memories, he wants to make certain they don't have to be repeated in the memories of my generation. And that black and white aren't real colours."

"Yes, they are," Lysander said, confused. "Things can be white and things can be black."

"Actually, black is just an absence of light. And white is the presence of every shade of light." Rose informed them.

"I think he meant that there's no such thing as Light Magic and Dark Magic. He says that he crossed the shades of grey during the Battle, and in the year before."

The silence fell once more briefly, before Aisha chimed in again.

"So, just to clarify, Alice hates Scorpius because her Mum and Dad hated Scorpius's Dad. But not his Mum. You haven't mentioned his Mum, or the twins' Dad, or Lia's Mum."

"My Mum's a Muggle," Lia answered. "She wasn't involved at all."

"And my granddad took my dad to Norway to find out about Magical Beasts when he was born." Lorcan added.

There was an expectant look in the gazes people turned on Scorpius. He shrugged. "My Mum kept out of it. Her family fought for the Dark, but she was a Ravenclaw and decided to keep out of it. They were considering disowning her, but then she married my Dad and they were happy again."


	3. Chapter 3

Aisha chimed in again.

"So, just to clarify, Alice hates Scorpius because her Mum and Dad hated Scorpius's Dad. But not his Mum. You haven't mentioned his Mum, or the twins' Dad, or Lia's Mum."

"My Mum's a Muggle," Lia answered. "She wasn't involved at all."

"And my granddad took my dad to Norway to find out about Magical Beasts when he was born." Lorcan added.

There was an expectant look in the gazes people turned on Scorpius. He shrugged. "My Mum kept out of it. Her family fought for the Dark, but she was a Ravenclaw and decided to keep out of it. They were considering disowning her, but then she married my Dad and they were happy again."

"Why don't Rose and Albus hate him?" Aisha asked. "They have more reason to."

"Fun though this discussion is, that storm-cloud is still there." Lysander interrupted. "And I quite like being dry."

Rose and Scorpius were the two with the oars, although they'd all but forgotten them during their shared telling of their parents' history. "Where are we going?" Scorpius asked.

"Why don't we try find a river," Lysander suggested. "There are usually rivers that lead into oceans, no matter where you are. And if we get far enough in, we'll be less exposed when the storm hits."

Common sense dictated this was a good plan, particularly as the one suggesting it had been brought up in tropical environments like this one seemed. The two of them bent over the oars and began to row their way around the island, keeping near enough to the coast to spot a river, but far enough away that any more creatures that showed up would be unable to find them.

Albus was the first to spot it. "Look, over there!" It was the mouth of a huge river.

"Thank Merlin," Scorpius muttered. Rose threw him a sympathetic glance.

"If your muscles are killing half as much as mine are, I feel sorry for you."

"Let's just say that this is good training for Quidditch," he grunted.

"You can't try out until your second year," she informed him.

"I know. But that's no reason to get out of practice." He turned his head to look at her. "Do you play?"

She nodded. "I have to; it's practically a family obligation. When we all get together, we play matches against each other. Uncle Harry's always a Seeker, and Ginny's a Chaser – well, she would be. She played professionally, after all. James – my cousin - is a Chaser too. My Dad's a Keeper. The rest of us all move round, but my favourite position is Keeper. Last game I even saved more goals than my Dad."

"Congratulations," he said, and meant it. "You're lucky that your family can muster a whole two teams, it means you get proper practice. My Mum and Dad will sometimes both be Chasers against me – I like Keeper best too."

"You should try playing Chaser against one of them. If you think like a Chaser, it helps beat them, sometimes."

Albus leant back and swatted Rose around the head. "Hey!" she cried. "I wouldn't do that if I were you – I've got an oar and I'm not afraid to use it."

"Well, you're giving away family secrets," he joked. "What if Malfoy ends up in a different House?"

Lysander, who had also been listening, chimed in. "Even if you end up in the same House, that means that you'll be competing against each other for the position."

"What House do you think you will end up in?" Albus asked.

None of the other three answered. "Who are you asking?" Scorpius finally asked.

"You, of course, Malfoy. I know these two far too well to care."

"I thought everyone would assume I'd want to be in Slytherin," Scorpius answered honestly.

"Maybe I wondered what you thought." Albus replied. "I don't want to care about who people's families are."

"Then why, Potter, are you calling me Malfoy, when you're calling everyone else by their first name?"

Albus blinked. "You're right. I'm sorry. Scorpius."

"So what House do you want to be in?" Rose asked.

"To be honest, Hufflepuff sounds kind of cool."

This attracted the attention of more than just those three involved in the conversation. Alice, who had been talking with Lia and Aisha about the different subjects that Hogwarts offered and comparing them with Muggle subjects. So far, they'd decided Potions was a cross between Chemistry and Food Technology, Ancient Runes was clearly something like Latin or Greek and Herbology was Biology, albeit without the animal or genetics side, the first of which was covered in Care of Magical Creatures. Lia and Aisha, who'd both gone to Muggle schools, had been explaining genetics as well as an eleven-year old could when they'd overheard Scorpius' statement.

"Did you actually just say that?" Alice asked, astonished.

"Yes."

"Wow, they disagree again," Aisha muttered to Lia. "What a surprise?"

The two of them smiled. Lia wondered if the constant arguing was wearing on the other girl as much as it was her. She understood Alice's initial hesitation about Scorpius, now that she'd discovered the Malfoy family had been part of the Death Eaters her father had told her about. But maybe living in the Muggle world had changed her father's outlook, even though he worked in the magical one, because he'd never spoken in hatred of Death Eaters, only pity. Or maybe her mother had, although she didn't understand why.

"Actually, I don't," Alice said, her tone still shocked at the very idea that she might agree with Scorpius. "My mum was a Hufflepuff, after all."

"The way I see it, they're the best of a bad lot."

Lia saw Aisha's expression, confused once more. "There are four Houses that you get Sorted into, when you reach Hogwarts," she explained. "Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, Slytherin and Ravenclaw."

"Ravenclaw's supposed to be for the most intelligent." Rose took over. "And Gryffindor's for those who are really brave. Slytherins are generally cunning, and ambitious, whilst Hufflepuffs are kind, and loyal."

"Or, Ravenclaws can't take their heads out of their books and wouldn't understand a social life if it fell on them. Gryffindors are over-emotional bleeding-hearts who sacrifice themselves for the fair maiden, whilst Slytherins are untrustworthy and power-hungry. And Hufflepuffs aren't all that bright, and just follow the leader blindly." Scorpius supplied the negative side.

"But they're stereotypes," Albus assured Aisha. "Generalisation, extremes. You get socialite Ravenclaws, noble Slytherins, sensible Gryffindors, intelligent Hufflepuffs."

"People's families sometimes trend to one House – there hasn't been a Weasley in generations who wasn't a Gryffindor." Rose added.

"Or a Malfoy who wasn't a Slytherin," Scorpius agreed. "But that's also for the extra reputation Slytherin has – it's supposed to be a place for those with blood that's the most magically pure, and in the last War, it was basically a recruiting ground for Voldemort. Some people said that every wizard who ever went bad came out of Slytherin."

"They were wrong though," Albus pointed out. "My grandparents were betrayed by a Gryffindor. And one of the greatest heroes of the War was a Slytherin. I'm named after him."

Aisha looked slightly overwhelmed by the rush of information. "I think I should have done some more research before I got here," she said slowly.

"Who did you sit with on the train?" Rose asked. "Didn't they explain anything to you?"

"I sat with these third-years. They told me stories about all the teachers- Professors, sorry. Lots of stories, but nothing helpful right now. They did mention something about a Sorting, but to be honest it sounded like a monster came in and plucked a few children out for its tribute."

The others snorted. "Horror stories," Lia reassured her. "I heard that it's just a magical Hat, which they put on your head."

Suddenly Lorcan, who'd taken no part in the conversation but had been studying the boat intensely, dropped to his knees.

"Lorcan?" Albus asked. "Are you alright?"

He was running his hands over the block of wood that supported one of the benches. Suddenly the others heard a 'pop'.

"I knew there was something strange about that block," Lorcan answered, sounding satisfied. "There's water in here. And some food…uh, lots of Pumpkin Pasties. A pack of Canary Creams, Chocolate Frogs…"

There were cheers of delight. Scorpius sighed, relieved. "Thank Godric. I've been drying out over here."

Lysander frowned suddenly. "How much?"

"It's alright, Sandy." Lorcan replied calmly. "You're my brother, I'll give it you for free."

"Sandy?" Aisha asked.

"My nickname. Lysander's a bit of a mouthful. Yes, you can all call me Sandy, if you want."

"And people can call me Al," Albus added, bending down next to Lorcan to look into the box of food.

"Anyone calling me Lys, Der, or Lysie will not have long to live, however." Lysander stated firmly. "Same goes for Lorcan. That's what his name is. Not Lor, not Can-Can, not Lorcy. Just stick with Lorcan, it's two syllables. It's not that hard."

Scorpius raised a hand. "Ditto. There are no good nicknames for Scorpius. Trust me, I've tried. You are all welcome to call me by my first name, however." He looked at Alice when he said this, but made no comment. The blonde girl rolled her eyes.

"What about a middle name?" Rose asked.

"Hyperion. No, it's not any better. My parents have a terrible sense of humour. What do you expect from a Draco Abraxas and an Astoria Valeria? Although at least there are nicknames for _them_."

Lysander sighed suddenly. "You all get distracted far too easily, you know. I expect it from my brother and my mother. I've never seen it so bad in anyone else though. When I said 'how much', I meant 'how much food and water is there?' We don't know how long we'll be out here."

A silence fell. Albus dropped the Chocolate Frog he had been opening. Rose frowned.

"Is the water in flasks, or bottles?" she asked.

  
"Two flasks," Albus replied, "and eight bottles. There are eight Pumpkin Pasties too, eight packets of crisps….eight of everything. Apart from the Canary Creams, and the Bertie Bott's Beans. There's a really big packet of both of those."

He pulled out a brightly coloured packet and frowned at it. "And it's missing all the writing, so I'm not certain. But I think this is a Puking Pastille." He pulled out another packet. "And these are Fainting Fancies."

"Different to Fruit Pastilles and Fondant Fancies, I guess." Aisha said sadly.

"A bit more tricky," Rose replied. "The whole line is called Skiving Snackboxes. You swallow one end, you starting throwing up, you get out of class – then you swallow the other end, and you're fine. Watch out for Canary Creams too – they actually turn you into a Canary. And Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans are every flavour beans."

Albus grinned proudly. "Rose's Dad is part owner of Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes, which makes Skiving Snackboxes. Along with our Uncle George. You learn really early on around him not to accept any food. I once asked him to pass the potatoes at a Christmas Dinner – I spent five minutes as a porcupine before he could get past Grandma's yelling to change me back."

"When you get to Hogwarts, don't accept anything off of Fred Weasley, either." Rose advised. "He's George's son. Watch out for Molly and Lucy too. They're twins, not George's kids but apparently his and Fred's 'spiritual heirs'."

"That's not Fred the Younger, but Fred who was George's twin. He died in the Battle of Hogwarts, at the end of the War." Albus explained.

"Molly and Lucy are Uncle Percy's kids. Dad says they're a fitting reward for Percy, because apparently he's the most…." Rose trailed off.

"Boring?" Albus suggested.

"Sensible," Rose decided, "of my Dad's siblings."

"Her Dad has 5 brothers and one sister," Albus explained, then turned to Scorpius. "Have you noticed yet how often everything that Rose says has to be explained? She only ever gives half the story to anything."

"It's because I'm so amazingly clever," Rose sighed. "My mind is just moving faster than the rest of yours."

"Or you just like the sound of your own voice," Scorpius murmured, then flinched. "Ow!" he complained, as Rose smacked him on the head.

"Serves you right," she said primly, before turning back to the box of food. "So one each of everything, and save the flasks for emergencies," she ordered. "And everyone, try to make your supplies last. it might be days before we get rescued."

This took a few minutes of asking everyone what they wanted, explaining what most of it was to Aisha and Lia and handing stuff out. Finally everyone was settled, except Rose and Scorpius, who had continued rowing upriver throughout the long conversation.

"Do either of you want me to take over rowing?" Albus asked. "While you get some food and water."

"Yes!" Rose answered, shoving her oar at her cousin. "I thought you'd never ask." She got up and wandered over to the box, rubbing her arms. "I think my arms are going to drop off," she groaned.

Lia got up and stood next to Scorpius. "I'll take over, if you want," she offered.

He glanced at her tiny frame, then at her thin arms. "Um, no, I'm fine," he lied.

She sighed. "Go get some food, Scorpius. I'll be alright."

"Go on," Lysander muttered. "If she can't handle the oars, I'll take over."

Scorpius gladly surrendered the oars then, and Lia hopped into his seat before anyone could say anything. She maneuvered the oars into position and began to row, easily keeping pace with Albus.

The others stared.

Blushing slightly now, from all the attention people were paying her, she shrugged. "I live in Cornwall, and my Dad's hospital is out on one of the 'uninhabited' islands. My mum's family is from round there, and my granddad taught me how to row. Sometimes, if I'm not at school and the weather's nice, I'll row over to the island to meet my Dad for lunch. And they'd never let me and my friends out in a boat if we couldn't be safe."

"That sounds nice," Aisha said wistfully. "I live in the middle of Birmingham. No ocean for miles around."

"At least there are people," Scorpius pointed out. "My family's manor is miles from the nearest village. There's absolutely nobody to talk to."

"Better than living on top of everyone," Albus groaned. "Siblings get boring really fast. Especially when they're as annoying as my siblings."

"Lily isn't that bad," Rose sighed. "Better than Hugo at least."

"She's better than James, too," Albus agreed. "But still, when she's upset over something – her whining could shatter glass. Or mad. She can be scary when she's mad." He gave a shudder that seemed out of proportion for a boy describing a nine year old girl.

"I can't really criticise my home," Lysander pointed out, "since I see it less than twice a year. Living everywhere is fascinating, really. It's fun. But I'd like to just not, for a while."

"Got to be better than living over a pub." Alice groaned. "Particularly one which is the crossing place between Muggle and Wizarding London. It's never quiet. Ever. I could probably sleep through an earthquake by now."

"Oh, earthquakes are easy to sleep through." Lorcan said brightly. "I slept through six in the last three months."

"We were near Japan," Lysander explained. "And he's not kidding. We were all nervously hiding under tables, and he just curls up and goes back to sleep."

"What were you doing in Japan?" Alice asked.

"Mum and Dad wanted to track down this 'mythical' Japanese creature. Nobody had confirmed its existence yet. They're Magizoologists," he explained. "It's their job."

"It was great," Lorcan said enthusiastically. "Even better than Peru."

Well, at least someone likes how he lives," Scorpius sighed. "Whilst we all moan about ours."

"It's our job," Albus grinned. "We're kids, we moan. It's in the specification."

"Speaking of jobs, what sort of jobs do wizards do?" Aisha asked curiously. "I guess you have a Government like non-magical people..."

"Muggles," Alice supplied. "Non-magical people are called Muggles. As for jobs, my Dad's the Herbology Professor at Hogwarts, and my Mum's the landlady of the Leaky Cauldron. That's a pub. Nothing that different to Muggle jobs, really."

"My Dad owns a joke company, like I said," Rose added. "And my Mum's a…..I don't think there's really a word. An activist, slash business woman slash researcher, I guess. She set up all these companies, that research into animals, and plants. The twins' Mum and Dad work at one of those. And other companies that research spells and potions, and why Muggle technology doesn't work with magic, and how the genetics of magic works, and all sorts of stuff. Apparently that all used to be part of the government, something called the 'Department of Mysteries'."

Seeing Aisha's frown, she nodded. "Sounds spooky, doesn't it? She's Muggleborn too, and she thought that it was safer to have them outside the Ministry – our government – especially after they got overthrown in the War. But she also petitions the Ministry about stuff."

She breathed for seemingly the first time in her long speech. "See!" She glared at Albus and Scorpius. "I do explain things!"

Choosing not to comment, remembering the hit on the head from last time, Scorpius just continued the topic. "My Mum's an Obliviator – they make Muggles who see magic or magical creatures forget them. My Dad works for Gringotts, which is our bank."

"My Dad's a Healer – that's basically a Doctor," Lia added. "And we can't go any further."

"Huh?" The others looked up, and saw what she had. The river was beginning to widen into a huge lake. Unfortunately, all the streams that fed the lake were too shallow for the boat to carry on travelling up. The lake's banks were coated with thick green ferns, brightly-coloured huge flowers and immensely tall trees. Now that they had stopped talking, things were eerily silent.

"It's like a rainforest," Lia gasped.

"Yeah…just too quiet to really be one. And here comes the rain," Lysander pointed out, eyeing the black clouds which had followed them inland.

"We need to find shelter," Rose decided. "If we tie the boat up, it should be fine."

"I don't think we need to," Lorcan said calmly.

Lysander, who knew to trust his brother when he spoke in that tone, followed Lorcan's gaze. Seeing the vines that were directly in front of them, he understood Lorcan's point.

"There's probably a cave, along there." He said to the others, pointing. "Those vines usually grow on the side of rock faces, but there's also water travelling along the top."

"Who volunteers to check it out" Rose asked.

"I'll go," Lorcan said. Albus and Scorpius weren't far behind. Nor was Alice, to the others' surprise.

"Okay, that's enough." Rose decided. "Four going, four staying. And one in each team who knows about this sort of place."

Aisha frowned. "Should we really split up?" she asked suspiciously. "That's what people do in horror movies before dying."

Alice shrugged. "As long as I end up with the famous actor who will be in the film until the end."

"Or the couple who get together at the end," Lia added.

Rose sighed. "I don't really think that two groups of four count as splitting up. We're not exactly investigating on our own."

This made sense to the others, so Alice, Lorcan, Scorpius and Albus clambered out of the boat, as Lia and Lysander maneuvered it as near to the banks as possible. Following the rock face round, the four of them soon found the ground becoming incredibly boggy.

"Salazar’s socks," Scorpius cursed, after finding his feet sinking into mud for the fifth time. He jumped clear and balanced on a rock that was protruding from the grass. "Lorcan, is this a good sign or a bad one?" he asked.

"Good," Lorcan replied absently. "Hopefully it means there's….look!"

They looked, and for a long moment could see nothing. At least, only another coating of green on a grey stone wall. Then they began to notice more, including gaps in the green and the grey, and the water that was dripping through the grey.

The four of them hurried forward and stood in front of the dripping green mass. "I guess that's where the water was coming from to make this mess," Scorpius remarked, gesturing at the mud that surrounded their feet and coated the lower foot of their robes.

"So, who's going first?" Albus asked, trying to peer through the strands of green to the gap in the stone that the plant was covering.

"Ladies first, right?" Alice grinned, and stepped forward.

"We can settle down in this cave, as long as nothing else has decided to do so first," Lorcan was thinking aloud.

Alice blinked and stepped back. "On second thoughts, why don't you three go first. I'm sure you're dying to."

Her words weren't far from the truth, and the three of them eagerly pushed their way through. Finding themselves in a small hollow, only just high enough for Lorcan, the tallest of them, to stand straight, they called for Alice to follow them.

She inspected the surroundings. It was quite narrow, possibly five foot at its widest, but reached back nearly four times her body length. "There's plenty of room for us, and the boat," she decided, and turned back. She grimaced at the green algae. "One of you can get the others. I'm not going through that mess again."

Shrugging, Albus grabbed hold of Scorpius and dragged him back out. Lorcan was wandering up and down the cave, examining it.

"Anything interesting?" Alice asked, leaning against a cave wall and trying to wipe the worst of the mud off her robes.

"Yes," Lorcan replied.

Alice straightened up immediately. "Really? What is it?" she asked, curiosity instantly awakened.

"Some sort of symbols," Lorcan replied absently.

The blonde girl hurried over, mud forgotten. She faced the wall that Lorcan was staring at, and saw what he meant. Some sort of symbols were engraved in the wall. The seemed to form paragraphs, as if they were ordinary words, and the writing filled the whole wall. "They look so familiar," she muttered, tracing a finger over one of the lines.

"Wow," Lia breathed, as she stepped into the cave. "It's like something out of a fairy tale."

The six of them had been carrying the boat between them, and only now put it down. "It's starting to really rain out there," Albus said, shaking his head like a dog in an attempt to dry it out. Droplets flew everywhere.

"Oh, thanks." Scorpius mock-complained. "Get me even wetter."

"One of us is going to have to get wet again, if we want some wood for a fire," Lysander pointed out. "Unless we want to be cold tonight?"

"Tonight?" Albus asked. "We're going to stay here overnight?"

"Shouldn't we explore the island, or wherever we are?" Scorpius suggested.

"Isn't there a more pressing issue?" Alice said, turning away from the wall of symbols.

"What?" Aisha asked.

"I don't know why none of us have considered it before," Alice repeated. "We really should have asked this question earlier. It's pretty odd that we haven't."

"If I didn't know your Dad was a Professor, I'd still be able to tell," Albus sighed. "You're doing that thing that teachers do, when they want you to get the answer on your own."

"Help me get the answer then," Rose told him. "Something we should have asked….a really obvious question….."

She stared around at her surroundings. "The most obvious questions are the first ones we ask. When you wake up from unconsciousness, the first question is "where am I?'"

"True," Alice agreed. "There's a bigger question than that though."

"Can you just cut to the chase and tell us the answer," Lysander sighed. "This is wasting time. And if it is such an important question, maybe you should hurry up and tell us!"

"But it's fun!" Rose grinned. "Generally, the biggest questions aren't who, what or where. They're why and how. Why do we exist? How….how did we get here?!"

"Exactly!" Alice cried. "We ought to be being Sorted at Hogwarts. We vanished from the boats while we were crossing the lake, ended up on some tropical island and we've been talking about our parent's professions? That shouldn't happen. We should have woken up, and immediately started panicking."

"But we didn't," Lysander realised, joining in the conversation. "We haven't wondered that once. We've mentioned Hogwarts, we've assumed we're going to get Sorted – but we have no idea where we are, how we got here or how we're going to get back."

Albus sighed. "While they discuss the meaning of life," he muttered to Scorpius, "and Rose can go on for hours, should we collect that firewood?"

"You don't need to," Lorcan answered him. "There's some already over in that corner."

Rose, who had been saying "and where things that should happen, don't happen, you can normally suspect magic," was interrupted by Lysander, whose ears seemed attuned to always overhear his brother.

"Where?" he demanded, hurrying over to the corner where, sure enough, there was a pile of wood, neatly bound with some string. "Okay, now that's suspicious," he said. "Like the hamper full of food in the boat."

"And the oars that appeared out of nowhere." Alice pointed out.

"Are you sure they weren't just there before, and we didn't notice?" Lysander asked.

"Yes," answered Scorpius, Rose and Alice as one. Lysander nodded in defeat, definitely outnumbered.

Scorpius then frowned down at the wood. "We have wood now," he pointed out, "but do any of us know how to light it?"

"I could try," Lia offered. "I've made fires before, but I usually had matches."

"I know the general idea of how," Rose added. "With Al's glasses, we lit that paper before."

Albus grinned, remembering. "Oh yeah. Molly and Lucy gave it us, saying it was scrap and we could practice on it. Turns out it was some paper that their Dad was supposed to submit to the Ministry."

"Lorcan or I can light it," Lysander said confidently. "We've had to light fires before without magic, if there were Muggles on one of the expeditions and we had to pretend we were ordinary people."

"We're doing it again!" Alice cried, exasperated. "I don't want to be cold tonight, but there _are_ other issues, here."

"There must be some sort of magic going on," Rose sighed. "And I bet it's related to those symbols."

Whilst Lorcan and Lia lit the fire, the other six hurried over to look at the wall. Unfortunately, as hours passed and it grew steadily darker, they had advanced no further. They had begun by agreeing that they looked 'familiar', although now they were beginning to doubt even that. Lysander had racked his memory, and dragged his twin over too, but neither could remember ever seeing symbols like that in any of the four corners of the globe that they had travelled to.

Thoughts had eventually turned to other matters, most particularly food. And water. Albus raised his bottle, frowning at it. It was almost empty. Rowing had been thirsty work.  
"Do you think I can fill this up from the lake?" he asked the others.

"It _has_ just rained," Rose pointed out. "The water running in from the streams should be fresh."

"Don't take it from the actual lake though," Lorcan warned. "It'll be stagnant, and Vanderhoosts love to live in stagnant waters, and they can kill you if you swallow them."

Albus nodded seriously, and turned to leave the cave. It was fully night now, but the moon was as full as it ought to have been at Hogwarts and so lit the area quite successfully. Scorpius followed him out.

"They don't reckon we should go anywhere alone," he explained.

"I guess that's a good idea, since we have no idea where we are," Albus agreed. He stepped off the rocky ledge that was the edge of their hollow and gasped as he sank. The rains had swollen the mud, and now it was nearly up to his waist. Hurrying over, Scorpius grabbed hold of his arms. With Al scrabbling at the rocks around for purchase, together they managed to heave him back out.

"Okay, that was a bad idea," he stated. Looking around, he saw the water that was feeding the bog. Part of it dripped down the algae-like plant that covered their cave, but some ran down crevices in the rock.

It was here that Albus leaned the neck of his bottle, hoping to catch some of the draining water. "This is running water, right?" he asked Scorpius. "And it's not infected with that plant, if it happened to be poisonous."

"It doesn't go through the plant, so I guess so," Scorpius replied. "As long as it's all safe up there."

They both looked up, to wherever the source of the water was, before it cascaded over the rock. "I'm sure it's fine," Albus shrugged.

Going back inside the cave, they nodded to the others. "Don't ask," Albus warned them, when they saw his mud-covered clothes.

Nodding, they settled back onto the beds they had made from their cloaks. Albus took a swig from his water bottle.

"Does it taste alright?" Lysander asked. Albus began to nod, then paused. Shaking his head frantically, he pretended to clutch at his throat.

None of the others even got up. "You're a really awful actor, Al, you know that." Rose sighed. She, like Alice, had arranged her cloak nearest to the wall of symbols, hoping for inspiration during the night.

Sighing, Albus swallowed the water. "Didn't I fool any of you?" he asked sadly. Seven faces met his gaze, ranging from regretful 'no's, to amused 'as if's and despairing 'honestly's.  
"Chuck me a Chocolate Frog then," he groaned. Nearest to the box of food, Lysander hurled one over. Leaning back to catch it, Al's face was struck by the moonlight.

"Your face looks a really funny colour by the moon," Aisha commented. "Which is weird, because Scorpius' face doesn't."

"I feel kind of funny too," Albus frowned. "Sort of, gurgly," He rested a hand on his stomach, then jerked it away. "Woah. And my stomach just kicked."

"I hate to ask such a personal question," Scorpius said, mock-seriously, "but is there any chance you could be pregnant?"

Albus laughed, but it was suddenly interrupted when his whole body shook.

"I don't think that water was safe," Lorcan pointed out.

"So do something!" Albus cried, staring at his stomach, which had now extended to twice its usual size and was moving all on its own.

"What can we do?" Aisha asked, staring at the others as if they might suddenly pull magic out of thin air.

"We need to make him throw it up," Rose suggested, hurrying forward to kneel by Albus.

The others began to follow, but Lia stopped them. "Let him breathe," she said, her quiet voice somehow carrying in the clamour. "Give him some space."

They backed off. At a glare from Lia, Rose did the same, but Scorpius didn't move. He was trying to help Albus hold the rest of his body still, instead of letting it be thrown around by the movements of his stomach.

"Catch!" Lysander yelled. He had been rummaging in the box, and now threw something at the others. Both Scorpius and Rose reached for it, but with Scorpius being hampered by Al's body, Rose was the one who managed to grab it.

"What is it?" Albus asked, unable to see Rose from his position.

"You're a genius, Lysander," Rose gasped. "Skiving Snackboxes!"

She hurried forward, ripping the Puking Pastilles packet open as she did so. "Swallow this," she cried, forcing something into Al's mouth. As it was either choke or obey her, he chose the latter option. His whole body heaved again, and realising what was to come, Scorpius and Rose grabbed hold of him and rolled him over, pushing him forward so they were outside of the green curtain.

The Skiving Snackbox did its work, and Albus emptied the contents of his stomach over the edge of the rock ledge.

"I'm sure I just saw something wriggle," Rose muttered, revolted.

"Can we not think about that," Albus requested, seemingly fully recovered. "That was in my stomach a second ago."

Grimacing, the three of them pushed their way back into the cave, followed by Lia and Lorcan, who had also come to check if everything was okay.

"Are you okay now?" Lia asked Albus worriedly.

He nodded. "Right as rain. Or maybe, righter than rain, if that was rainwater that I was drinking."

"There was something magical in it," Rose stated. "It acted so quickly."

"One more thing to add to the mysteries of this place," Scorpius muttered.

Now that his stomach was no longer moving of its own accord, Albus flopped down on his cloak-bed. "I'm knackered," he murmured, already beginning to drift into sleep. "Night, everyone."

"Sounds like a good idea," Alice muttered, settling down herself.

"We should have someone awake all the time," Lorcan warned. "As a look-out."

"Thanks for volunteering," Rose said sleepily.

Lysander rolled his eyes, and dragged himself out of the drowsiness that threatened to claim him. "Two of us can be on watch for the first two hours. I'll do that with Lorcan."

"I'll go next," Lia volunteered.

"Me too," Aisha sighed. "I guess it's only two hours of sleep."

"You guys wake me up then," Scorpius yawned. "See you in four hours."

And with that, the majority of them fell asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

We should have someone awake all the time," Lorcan warned. "As a look-out."

"Thanks for volunteering," Rose said sleepily.

Lysander rolled his eyes, and dragged himself out of the drowsiness that threatened to claim him. "Two of us can be on watch for the first two hours. I'll do that with Lorcan."

"I'll go next," Lia volunteered.

"Me too," Aisha sighed. "I guess it's only two hours of sleep."

"You guys wake me up then," Scorpius yawned. "See you in four hours."

As Lorcan and Lysander settled opposite each other and began to talk in soft voices, the others dreamed.

* * *

_Lia dreamed that she was on a boat, surrounded by her friends from home. They were on their way to a picnic, and everyone was talking happily at the tops of their voices. Smiling, she leaned over the edge of the boat._

_"Watch out," a familiar voice warned. Lia straightened up and turned, smiling at her grandfather, who sat opposite her in the boat that was now otherwise empty. "You don't want to fall in, I'm not in the mood to drag you out today."_

_"I can swim fine, Grandpa," Lia sighed. "You should know that – you taught me, after all."_

_"I know you can, love. You're my little fish." He leaned closer. "You're looking very little right now. You know, you need to eat more. Take some extra out of that box you and your friends have in the cave. They won't mind, heck, they probably won't even notice. And you need it most. You've saved your water so well too, but you could just fill it up from the flasks."_

_Lia stared at her grandfather. "I couldn't do that! It'd be lying to them. That's not right. Not when we've all got this far together."_

_"But Lia, they'd understand. If they're any sort of friends they would." A tear streaked down the old man's face, vanishing into his beard. "I can't lose you, love. After Ruth, and Aliya. After it got so close with Bethany."_

_"Oh, grandpa," Lia said softly. Ruth had been her grandma, and Aliya her aunt. Bethany was her mother. Fifteen years ago, Ruth had taken her daughters out sailing. A sudden storm had blown up, out of nowhere according to the locals. Thanks to the mourning of an orphaned sea serpent, according to the wizards. Ruth and her daughters had been caught in it. Only Bethany had lived, thanks to the work of the Healers at her father's hospital. Lia had never expected such a sad story for how her parents met._

* * *

Opposite to Lia, Aisha, too, dreamed.

_She sighed, sitting back from the computer. She stared wistfully out the window at the bright summer's day, and her younger brother, playing football with his friends. Then, she turned back to her work._

_There was a banging on the window. Startled, she glanced up. It was her second-oldest sister. The eldest was seventeen, and far too cool to be hanging around the house. But Hafsa, who was closest to her in age at thirteen, was making faces in the window. "Come outside, Aisha!" Hafsa cried._

_"I can't," Aisha protested. "I've got all these practise tests to finish if I want to get into the grammar school."_

_Hafsa rolled her eyes. "Why would you want to go there?" she asked. "It's full of swots and posh kids."_

_Aisha smiled politely and looked away. She'd become used to comments like that. Her parents had happily paid the fifteen pound fee to take the Entrance Exam, but there wasn't enough money for tutoring. It was her English teacher, the one who had first suggested the grammar school as a possible destination, who'd supplied her with the practice tests. She was the only one at her primary school trying for the exam though. And the only one of her family to do so. Her uncle had been trying to scare her with stories of how much homework grammar school kids got, and that there wasn't enough time for a social life. But she'd managed to ignore that. "I'll sacrifice a social life now, if it means I can have a better one later," she'd decided._

_Her mum entered the room. 'Great, more distractions," Aisha thought, irritated. "Mum, I'm trying to do a timed test!" she complained._

_"Sorry dear," her mother replied. "I was just wondering if you wanted any snacks?"_

_"Not right now, thanks," Aisha replied huffily._

_"You should take some more if you need some," her mother warned. "Just take some out of the box in that cave of yours. Or fill your water bottle up. It's looking quite low."_

_This being a dream, Aisha never questioned how her Mum knew about the cave she was currently sleeping in. Or why she was still studying for her grammar school entrance exam, given that she'd both taken and passed it more than six months ago, and had been on the verge of attending that school before a strange man turned up at her door with a letter from a place called Hogwarts._

_"It's only just half empty," Aisha argued. "And what would be the point of stealing stuff off the others? How far do you think I'll get on my own? They know this world, Mum. I couldn't learn anything, there was nothing on the Internet. None of the libraries had any books about it, and I've read that one that the Professor who explained Hogwarts lent us."_

_"Aisha," her mum began, but Aisha was ignoring her now. She'd turned back to her work._

_"Aisha. Aisha!"_

"Aisha!"

"What," Aisha moaned, forcing her eyes open. It didn't seem like two seconds since they had closed.

"It's our turn to be on watch," Lia explained.

"Oh, right." Aisha wrapped her cloak around her, and edged closer to the fire. It had gotten colder since she fell asleep.

"Did you sleep well?" Lia asked.

"Could have done with longer," Aisha sighed in reply, "but yeah. You?"

"I went out like a light," Lia agreed. "I must have been tired, because I can't even remember my head hitting the cloak. Nothing until Lysander woke me up."

Aisha rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. "Same."

The two of them sat in silence for several minutes. Then Aisha asked, "So has your Dad's family always been magical? I know you said your Mum was a Muggle."

Lia looked slightly surprised. "You remembered that? Anyway, my Dad and his brother are magical, but none of their parents were. We don't see those grandparents much though, they live all the way in Coventry."

"Near to me in Birmingham," Aisha smiled. "Is it just you, or have you got brothers and sisters?"

"Just me," Lia sighed. "I think I'd have liked brothers and sisters. What about you?"

"Three. You really don’t want lots of siblings, especially older ones. It's terrible, you don't get anything to yourself. What about grandparents, aunties?"

"Colin, who was my dad's only brother, died in the War."

"And your Mum?"

"Her sister's called Aliya."

"Oh, that's such a nice name!"

"It's Hebrew. It means beloved, because she was their first child and it took them ages to have her."

"Hebrew? So are you Jewish? And is that why..."

"I knew so much about the Nazis? Yes, and yes. I looked it up, because my grandmother fled Germany in the World War Two."

"Why didn't you tell them that? They don't seem like the type who would mind. Maybe Alice, she seems to mind about Scorpius' past."

Lia shrugged. "I didn't really think they'd be interested."

Aisha frowned at her. "They would be, and you shouldn't always take that tack for whether you say stuff. If you want to say it, say it!"

Lia laughed.

"So does Aliya live in Cornwall with you?"

Looking suddenly saddened, Lia shook her head. "She died," the little girl said, leaning her head forward so that her long waves of blonde hair masked her face, but not quickly enough to obscure the tears that sprang up in her eyes. "In a storm, along with my grandma. It was before I was born, so I never met her. But I still miss her, you know?"

Aisha nodded sadly, putting her arm around the other girl. "I'm sorry," she murmured.

A silence fell again. It was broken once more, tentatively this time, by Aisha. "How much does your Mum's family know about magic?"

"My mum knows everything," Lia answered. "She shouldn't do, really. She found out before my Dad and her got married, and only the spouses, children and parents of witches and wizards are supposed to know. But there were special circumstances, and since they were going to get married, it was allowed. My grandpa doesn't know anything." She smiled shyly. "He thinks I'm going to a special boarding school to study dance.”

"Oh, can you dance?" Aisha asked excitedly.

"I'm alright," Lia replied modestly.

For a third time, silence descended. After it had extended for several minutes, Aisha smiled apologetically at Lia. "I hope it doesn't seem like I'm interrogating you, or anything. I just don't know much about the wizarding world, and I'd like to. And I'm terrible at conversations – I can never think of anything to say, so I just ask questions endlessly."

"Oh, I don't mind! I'm used to being the one who listens. It's a nice change." Lia blushed. "That was awful of me, I don't mean that my friends normally talk over me-"

"It's okay," Aisha laughed. "They probably do, but if you don't mind then it's fine."

"I prefer this," Lia admitted. "I like silences too though."

"I do, until I remember that the other person is there."

"Yes, then I start to worry that it's an uncomfortable silence for them, even though it isn't for me."

"Exactly!" Aisha cried. Both girls smiled.

"So do you have brothers, or are they all sisters?"

"Two sisters, both older. One brother – he's younger. They don't know about me coming here, they think it's a specialist school for English students. My mum and dad know, but they're a bit confused. To be honest, so am I."

"Your friends?"

"I don't really have very many. Not close ones. Everyone at my school thinks I'm a bit of a geek. I try not to be, and I try not to listen to the teachers so that I'm not a teacher's pet too – but that doesn't work." She stared at Lia. "I'm so sorry that I just unloaded all that on you. It's really not fair."

"It's fine. And you'll love it at Hogwarts," Lia promised. "And you'll definitely have lots of friends. You'll have me, for sure."

Aisha smiled. "Thanks." She extended a hand. "Shake on it?"

They shook and let their hands, still clasped, drop to the floor.

They sat in silence for much of the rest of the time, although they did discuss the equipment they had brought. Aisha was relieved to learn that she'd bought the right stuff, and intrigued to discover that everyone's wand really was unique. Lia's had been unicorn hair and rosewood and her own was maple with a core of phoenix feather.

Meanwhile, the others dreamed.

* * *

As Aisha and Lia sat and talked, the other six slept. Not quite dreamlessly.

_It was a gorgeous summer morning. That meant only one thing, in the eleven year old mind of Scorpius. Flying. Particularly when he would be leaving for Hogwarts in two weeks, and wouldn't be able to fly as much as he wanted. He dressed at super fast speed, rushing down to breakfast only half ready._

_He raced into the dining room, only to stumble to a halt at the sight of his father. "Dad?" he asked, surprised. "Why aren't you at work?"_

_His father looked up from the letter he had been reading. The frown lines at the edge of his eyes deepened at the sight of Scorpius._

_"I took the day off," Draco replied. "I had some personal things that came up." He stared at the letter in his hand._

_Scorpius craned his neck to look at the postmark. Azkaban. The letter was from Azkaban._

_"Who's writing from Azkaban?" he asked, then instantly regretted it. Nobody good ever wrote from Azkban. The last time a letter came, it was to say that his great-uncle, Rabastan, had died._

_Nobody had seemed very upset. Even Gran, whose brother-in-law it had been. But there had been hushed discussions in corners for days, and finally Draco had sat Scorpius down and told him the whole story of the War._

_"As if I hadn't known it before," Scorpius thought. Children weren't blind, no matter what adults thought. And he'd seen the unfriendly looks, cold tones and downright dismissals of people in shops when he'd visited Diagon Alley with his father. Two witches had once crossed the street to avoid them. His father didn't go shopping with them very much any more, but even with his mother, polite staff could suddenly turn abrupt when his mother signed her name on receipts. Scorpius had been determined to find out why, and when enquiries of Gran only elicited "because your grandfather was a very misguided man, and we all followed him," he'd gone to other sources. There were plenty of books about the Second Wizarding War, and it had been simple to buy one, though he'd taken the precaution of changing his hair colour first, using a product which only lasted half an hour from Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes Mail Order._

_But he listened patiently to his father's explanation, impressed by how little was left out, though most of the time when Draco was home before and during his seventh year was glossed over. And he heard Draco's exhortations to the eight-year old that it was up to him to restore the Malfoy name._

_Now, though, Draco answered straight away. "Your Grandfather. He's being considered for release soon." Mature though Scorpius was, he couldn't understand the sadness in his father's eyes._

_"But that's good, isn't it? He's your Dad. Don't you miss him?"_

_"I do, Scorpius. And I expect Mother- Gran does too." Draco studied his son. How to explain that the reason for his sadness was all for Scorpius. That he was afraid...oh, and how much did he hate knowing that, once again, he was scared of something, that Lucius might change his son. He was so proud of Scorpius, so happy that Tori and he had done what he'd feared might never happen – they'd brought up a son who showed emotion, who wasn't too reserved to come skidding into the dining room still pulling on his robes._

_"But I'm worried for you, Scorpius, that you might not live to see him. If you don't take some more water, you'll run out. You're running short, thanks to all that rowing you did."_

_Now it was Scorpius' turn to frown. He knew, in the same place where déjà vu hit you, that this wasn't how this conversation had gone. But he played along._

_"It's almost half-full, Dad," he protested. "And someone had to row the boat."_

_"There's my optimist." Draco nodded his approval. "But you have to look after yourself. What do their opinions matter, if they complain about you taking a little bit of water?"_

_"I know their opinions don't matter, Dad." Scorpius sighed. Sometimes his father said such contradictory things. One moment it was to make sure that the Malfoy name was upheld, and the next it was to do what he thought was right and ignore other people's opinions. "But they might not have enough, if I take some."_

_His father sighed. And suddenly the floor dropped out from underneath Scorpius and he was airborne, the wind in his air and his broom safely under him. He spotted the Quaffle and dived for it, earlier dreams forgotten._

* * *

But though the dream had finished with him, it had moved onto others.

_"James!" Albus cried angrily. "Give me back my Snitch!" James had stolen the Snitch which had been a present for Al's 10th birthday, in honour of the first time that he'd beaten his father to catch the little golden ball._

_"Haven't got it," James laughed, heading out of the house to go join Fred, who had come over with his parents that morning._

_Lily appeared at the bottom of the stairs. "Your Snitch is under the sink," she told Albus. "I saw James steal it."_

_"And you didn't stop him?" Albus complained, pushing down the stairs to go reclaim his prize._

_Lily shrugged. "I don't want to get involved. Why get him to annoy me?"_

_Albus rolled his eyes. "I stopped him when he tried to dye your Pygmy Puff," he pointed out._

_"You're stupider than I am," Lily retorted. "Which I why I'm having to tell you this. Take some water from that flask."_

_"What?" Albus stared at her. "Why?"_

_"You nearly died, drinking out of some random stream," Lily pointed out, tossing her red hair. "That's a pretty good reason why."_

_"It wasn't really a stream," Albus replied absently. "And I can't do that. Some of the others might need that water more. I'm big, I can last ages."_

_"You mean, you're a boy, you can last ages," she groaned. "Hasn't Mum taught you anything?"_

_Albus rubbed his cheek absently. "You taught me something when Mum showed you the Bat-Bogey Hex," he muttered. "She still won't teach me that."_

_"It's a girl secret," Lily told him. "I'll have to teach it to all the future Potter girls."_

_"There won't be any," he reminded her. "You'll get married and lose your name."_

_Lily smiled. "It's not the name that matters. I'll still be a Potter on the inside, and so will my children. And yours, if you live long enough to have any."_

_"I'll be fine, Lily," Albus reassured her. "Stop worrying."_

_"Yeah right," Lily muttered. "You and James together are going to make Mum grey. You always get into danger. Last summer when you just had to rescue Rose's Flutterpuff."_

_The Flutterpuff was a new breed. A cross between a Puffskein and a Diricawl, it was basically a pygmy puff which could fly. Which meant that it could get into all sorts of dangers. Rose's had a habit of getting stuck in trees above rivers, where it would then sit and quake for hours until someone climbed the tree and brought it down._

_"Yeah, yeah," Albus sighed, and began to tune his sister out._

"I'm ignoring you," he muttered, as a voice spoke into his ear.

"You can ignore me all you like, you're on sentry duty," the voice stated.

"Aisha?" he asked, bolting upright and nearly knocking his own head into hers.

"Full marks," Aisha replied. "Now, let me get some sleep."

Nodding, he sat up straighter, noticing that Scorpius had also been woken. The two boys sat in silence for several minutes, until Albus was certain that Lia and Aisha were asleep.

But Scorpius spoke before Albus could. "How much would people at Hogwarts, not to mention our families, freak out if they saw us sitting here and not fighting."

"I know, a Malfoy and a Potter? Friends rather than enemies? It must be a first."

"Friends?" Scorpius queried.

Albus shrugged. "When you've helped someone throw up a moving mutant creature, you kind of have to be friends."

Scorpius laughed. "Fair enough."

"Thanks for that, by the way."

"It was fun," Scorpius replied. "Seeing your stomach move like that was so cool. At least, now that you're not going to die and all. And I reckon I've listened to my Dad – he said not to annoy you, or any of the Weasleys."

"My Dad didn't say much about that, though Uncle Ron told Rose to beat you in all her lessons." Albus paused. "I was impressed though, when you were dealing with Alice. I'd have started yelling at her if she kept going on about my family like that."

"You get used to it- well, I guess you know that. I bet it's not easy being the Son of the Saviour." You could tell that the words were capitalised.

"Sometimes it's good, but I didn't realise just how famous my Dad is, not until we got here. And I don't get why people are still so fascinated, it was ages ago. When they were our age, and they're old now! It can get annoying though, when you want to go out for dinner, or go shopping and people won't leave you alone. We've started shopping in Muggle London, or in France with my Aunt. People don't stare as much there. But at least my Dad can ask people to leave him alone, and they will. It's probably simpler than being the son of, um,"

"The son of a Death Eater." Scorpius supplied. "You can say it, you know. You won't be the first, and it is true. Apparently it's better now, because the word has stopped being so scary to people."

"That's true, I guess. Everyone says Voldemort now – they used to be so scared that they'd just say You-Know-Who. Weird, or what?"

"My Dad still does." The admission was easier in the dark. "He calls him the Dark Lord – he encourages Mum and me to call him Voldemort, but he hardly ever does. I've seen him try, occasionally. He always does this weird swallowing thing every time he does. And Gran flinches when anyone says it, even Mum and me."

Scorpius sighed. "Anyway, you said we were friends?" he said, changing the subject. Albus decided not comment.

"Yeah. We've only known each other a day, but it hasn't been a normal day, really."

"Fits something that isn't a normal friendship. Although we know normal friend things – name, parents jobs', where we live. When's your birthday?"

"March 18th. Let me guess, yours is whenever the star sign is Scorpio."

"No. It's August 29th. Virgo. But I'm glad my parents called me Scorpius instead."

Albus snorted. "Yeah, I bet you are."

"Hang on, there's one way we might not be able to be friends. Our families hate each other, no problem. We'll probably end up in different Houses, but we'll live. But what Quidditch team do you support?"

"Holyhead Harpies."

"Are you kidding? That's a girls' team!"

In future years, Albus would come to point out that supporting a team where men were outnumbered five to one and where you could watch women with good reason was a good idea, but he wasn't quite that precocious. "My Mum played for them. Who do you support?"

"Puddlemere United."

"That's alright. My Dad knew the Keeper, Oliver Wood?"

"He's amazing! He made 146 saves in one game, last season."

"Then he got his arm broken," Albus pointed out.

Scorpius grimaced. "Richard Derrick. Stupid Beater for stupid Falmouth Falcons. The game had practically ended, what was the point?"

"He plays for the Falcons. Breaking something is the point."

* * *

While Scorpius and Albus discussed Quidditch, the others dreamed.

_"Alice!" It was Hannah, calling Alice. "Get down here, I want you to take your brother out to get his new robes."_

_Glowering, Alice pushed away the book she had been reading and stomped down the stairs._

_"Mum, I was busy," she informed her mother, who was loading some of the laundry into the pub's massive washing machine._

_"You were reading. I know you. And we're all busy, some more busy than others. Now get Frank and take him to Madam Malkins'. There's money in my bag."_

_Alice did as her mother said. Once her little brother was dropped off at Madam Malkins', she went to the next row, Spark Alley, to gaze at the beautiful robes in Sparkles. She sighed. She wanted robes like these, but her Mum would never buy them for her. They had the money – the pub made a roaring trade, better than ever before and Neville's paycheck wasn't small, but Hannah just didn't see why Alice wanted them._

_"My family don't understand me," Alice thought gloomily. They didn't see why she would rather lie in her room reading a book than help Neville do the gardening and get mud under her fingernails. Hannah had been shocked when Alice had returned from the stylist, two months before going to Hogwarts with her hair chin-length and magically straightened rather than trimmed then plaited as Hannah had always worn hers._

_They'd never understood why she refused a scone during the afternoon, even though they were freshly baked and everyone could hear her stomach rumble. The only time she ever felt like she fit was when she and Hannah would cook. Alice loved cooking, even though having two people in the kitchen above the pub was crowded and they would always be bumping into each other._

_"Can I help you?" a voice asked. Startled, Alice looked up. It was the owner of the store, Mademoiselle Brun._

_Alice shook her head and turned to leave. As she stepped through the doorway, she entered Hagrid's hut._

_"Morning, Hagrid," she called happily. Whenever the family came to Hogwarts, to keep an eye on the Herbology greenhouses, Alice would disappear off and find Hagrid. They were an unlikely pairing. Neville didn't know why the girl who refused to get dirt under her fingernails was happy to roam the grounds with Hagrid, but he let it pass._

_In truth, Alice liked talking to Hagrid for lots of reasons. Firstly, he didn't see her as Neville's little daughter. They'd always spoken as equals, or at least as if she was a student up at the school._

_Second, he didn't see her as Neville's little daughter – at least, he didn't expect her to act like her father, or her mother. When she talked about loving books, and pointed out facts about everything they came across, he didn't stare in surprise._

_Third, he told her things. She didn't have to ask. She hated asking, but she loved knowing things, and the two had to balance out. But with Hagrid, they didn't. He told her facts about all the Magical Beasts they saw around Hogwarts, the Magical Beasts he had seen, and ones he wished he could see. He told her stories, too, about the past and how her father had got those scars on his cheek and about any students they saw as they walked around. Something, maybe the realisation that it was his loose tongue that had helped Harry save the Wizarding World so many times, had turned Hagrid into a gossip, and Alice loved it._

_Finally, she was safe with Hagrid. Although she was proud to know that the way to placate a Bowtruckle was with woodlice, if a Bowtruckle had exploded from a tree and gone for her, chances were that she would have fled and forgotten everything she knew._

_"Mornin', Alice," Hagrid smiled at her. "Fancy coming out to check on the Thestrals?"_

_Alice couldn't see Thestrals, although she knew that both her parents could. But she loved seeing the pieces of meat vanishing from the carcass and knowing where they went._

_As the two set off, they talked, until Hagrid fixed Alice with a stare. "Yeh've not got enough water left, Alice. Go fill it up from them flasks."_

_She sighed. "No way. I really don't think I'm the one who needs it most. After all, the others are the one who can row, and carry things. The only thing they might need my help for is to know things, but Rose, Lysander and Lorcan have that covered."_

_"An' I suppose yeh'll refuse to have some food, too."_

_"Definitely. I can afford not to. Lia, on the other hand, can't. She's so little! And we might all end up killing each other without her."_

_Suddenly Hagrid stopped and heaved the cow he'd been carrying off his shoulders. "We're bringing Diricawls in for the Magical Creatures class to study," he remarked. "I guess yeh'll be wanting a look at them."_

* * *

Opposite Alice, Rose turned in her sleep and muttered.

_"Rose! Catch!" Racing backwards to catch Roxanne's shot, Rose stumbled and ended up with her bum firmly planted on the grass. But she still caught it and, seconds later, had hopped back to her feet._

_It was a huge gathering of the Weasley clan, all back at the Burrow, to celebrate Teddy getting the NEWT results he had needed to be a Healer. The weather was beautiful and the adults were sitting on chairs chatting, whilst what seemed like a hundred children played in the garden._

_Roxanne, Dominique and Rose had joined together to fight James, Albus and Fred. Whichever team had the ball when the music stopped won. Victoire, who was looking away from the game, was controlling the music, with Hugo on watch to make sure she didn't cheat and peek._

_Molly and Lucy were nowhere to be seen, and Rose made a mental note to check that other people had taken bites of everything at lunch before she did. She didn't want to fall victim to one of their pranks. Lily and Louis were down at the stream that ran near to the garden, trying to catch a frog. _

_The game ended at Molly's call that lunch was ready, with the girls winning 7:5._

_Rose grabbed a seat, ending up next to Dominique, one of her favourite cousins. She could always be relied on to help with advice and schoolwork._

_"How's it going?" Dominique asked now. "That was a great catch you made."_

_That was the other amazing thing about Dominique. Everyone else could be relied on to congratulate Rose on her excellent school results, or ask what she was reading. Dominique remembered that Rose might have interests outside of study._

_"Thanks!" Rose chirped happily. "I'm good. Dad says he'll teach me some more Keeper moves this summer. Are you missing your friends?"_

_Dominique was sixteen and soon to enter her fifth year at Hogwarts. Her best friends at Hogwarts weren't Weasleys, for a change and both lived in Ireland over the summer, so they never got to meet up. "I guess. Kate's been writing me though, so it's alright. Adam probably wouldn't know how to write, on the other hand."_

_Dominique's gaze turned serious. "Rose," she began. "You did a lot of rowing yesterday. I know you're strong – you've hit me with Bludgers often enough, but you need to eat to keep up your strength."_

_"But there isn't any extra food," Rose pointed out. "And I've got a bit left."_

_"So borrow some of someone else's," Dominique urged. "You can pay them back when you get to Hogwarts, and they'll need your brain, and your strength to get there."_

_"The others have plenty of strength," Rose laughed. "Even Lia does, though I can't see where it comes from. I could just relax and do the thinking for them, and everyone thinks best with that edge of hunger."_

_"Rose," Dominique sighed, but Rose was already shaking her head._

_"You know that I'm too stubborn to change my mind," she reminded her cousin._

_Dominique rolled her eyes. "I know I do," she retorted. "You and Roxie sat for half an hour yesterday in an arm-wrestle because neither of you would give up."_

_"What can I say?" Rose laughed. "It runs in the family."_

"Rose," someone whispered. "Rose!"

Rose opened her eyes to see Scorpius leaning over her. "Morning," he grinned happily.

"Do you have to wake me up? And do you have to be this cheerful in the morning?" Rose asked.

"Yes, and yes," he replied. "I'm about to get two more hours sleep, so yes to the cheerful. And it was you or Alice. And Alice scares me."

Rose focused bleary brown eyes on him as she sat up. This was a different Scorpius to the one they'd seen yesterday. He seemed a lot…lighter. "Strange, considering we're still trapped Merlin-knows-where."

Sighing, she waved a hand at him. "Go to sleep then. It's alright for some."

Alice, who had been woken by Albus, leaned against the wall next to Rose.

"Glad to have had your beauty sleep?" Alice asked.

"I think I need a couple more hours."

"No, you look great. Your hair is properly curly, rather than my frizz."

"Thanks," Rose replied, startled at the early compliment.

"I think I made the wrong impression earlier," Alice said. "I'm sorry if it seemed like I was attacking Malfoy. But I look at him and I hear all the stories my mother tells about him. He was part of why my Dad has those scars on his cheek. At least, his father was." She didn't elaborate.

"I can see that. My Dad's the same, but my Mum is always saying not to judge a book by its cover."

"Oh, isn't that a stupid saying! Things on the cover include the title, the author's name and the blurb. And there isn't much else to judge a book by."

"Recommendations?"

"They're on the cover too."

Rose laughed. "True."

An intense discussion of the merits of various books they had read followed, after which both girls fell silent, exhausted.

Rose stared at the mysterious symbols on the wall. "We have to decipher those," she pointed out.

"Or we'll be stuck here forever," Alice agreed. "There is something about them….they're like words, in how they're spaced. And some 'words' repeat, like they would in English. Or that one's just one symbol," she added. "And it repeats too."

"If each symbol is an English letter," Rose hypothesised, "what could that be?"

"A or I?" Alice suggested. "Unless it's shorthand, where it could be a C or a U."

Rose tilted her head to one side, rolling it slightly to remove the stiffness. Suddenly she froze. "I!" she said excitedly. "Look, it's an I!"

* * *

As Rose explained her discovery, the others dreamed.

_At ten years old, Lysander was fluent in three languages and could make himself understood in four more. At the moment, he was trying to learn some Japanese, although he and the camp worker were mostly making conversation through a mixture of French, Chinese and English._

_Rolf came to find him, then rolled his eyes. "I should have known," he muttered indulgently. Although Lorcan was as enthused about the magical creatures they went around the world to study as his parents, Lysander was more often to be found helping the local people who assisted them, and talking to them. One-on-one, his son could talk the hind leg off a donkey, though Rolf had never understood that expression. Why would talking make a donkey lose its leg?_

_Lysander wasn't quite so talkative in large groups, especially not when there was someone else to talk. His parents had brought him up to be a good listener, and it was rare that he'd interrupt someone to say his piece._

_One thing he wasn't so good with, was packing up his tent. Lorcan was only too happy to do it all, which was why Lysander could easily vanish off and 'help' (or rather, talk to) someone else._

_"Go help your brother, Lysander," Rolf ordered, nodding politely to the Muggle man. He didn't know any Japanese, and they'd yet to invent a Charm to make you understand other languages, which would have made his job much easier._

_"You can't just leave Lorcan to do the work," Rolf told his son. "It's your mess too."_

_"But he wants to," Lysander complained._

_"Wants to? Or will." Rolf sighed. "You know Lorcan. You know he won't refuse to do anything, and he'll do it with a smile. That doesn't mean that he should have to do everything."_

_Rolf watched Lysander, knowing he'd said this hundreds of times before. Then he had an idea. Lysander loved his brother, and during the few times they'd managed to attend schools, which were rarely in England, he'd inevitably ended up in fights to defend him. Lorcan, like Luna, was different, in a way that was noticeable even to wizards, who were used to being unusual. He'd rarely take offence, and was entirely oblivious to strange looks cast his way. Lysander, however, was not blind to this, and took care to prevent any strange looks, and fight back when offence had been meant, no matter whether it had registered._

_Rolf wondered how much Lorcan did notice, and how much Lysander knew that Lorcan noticed. They were twins, after all, even if they weren't identical, and they shared a link despite their differences. So Rolf appealed to Lysander's protectiveness._

_"Sandy," he began, crouching down to look his son in the eye. Lysander looked so much like Luna, but he was more like Rolf in character. He was more practical even than Rolf, the more practical of the couple. "There'll always be people who try to take advantage of Lorcan. You know that. Do you want to be one of those people, or do you want to stop those people from doing that?"_

_"Stop them," Lysander replied indignantly. "I'd never let anyone hurt Lorcan."_

_"But if you do the same, it might encourage people to do so."_

_"Oh." Lysander frowned. "I never saw it like that."_

_"I know you didn't. And that's alright, but you won't let it happen again, will you?"_

_"Of course not, Dad," Lysander promised, and in three months he'd attend Hogwarts with that promise still fresh in his mind. Now, however, the conversation took a turn which it hadn't done in real life._

_"And you can't do that if you're weak," Rolf pointed out. "You need to eat and drink, to keep up your strength. Take some from the box. They won't mind."_

_"I can't do that!" Lysander replied, horrified. "Besides, I'd be taking it from Lorcan then. How would that be better?"_

_Rolf frowned, disconcerted. "Of course, it wouldn't. But you could take some extra for you both."_

_"No way. Rose and Al are almost my family anyway. And we won't get far without the others."_

* * *

In his brother's dream, Lorcan was now being helped with a tent; in reality, he lay next to him, also dreaming.

_They should have been asleep. It was nearly midnight, and long past a ten-year old's bedtime. But it was New Year's Eve, and though they'd been sent to bed, or rather to tent, hours ago, Lorcan and Lysander were still awake, waiting to see in the New Year._

_"I can't wait for this year," Lorcan reflected happily. "We get to start Hogwarts!"_

_They didn't always get excited over the same things, but this time was an exception. Lysander nodded. "It'll be so great. All those people!"_

_One of the downsides of their lifestyle, in Lysander's mind, was that it didn't let them meet many people. People from lots of different countries, yes. New people very often, or for long enough to talk to them, no. There was one or two baggage handlers with the group, but they'd stay for the duration of the expedition, often up to a year._

_"But no new animals," Lorcan sighed. "And we won't get to go to so many new places."_

_"Hogwarts is a new place," Lysander pointed out. "And we'll learn new spells, and how to make Potions." _

_Luna made all the potions for their group, but the twins were forbidden to help. They were too young to be playing with such volatile substances, according to their parents._

_"We get wands, too!" Lorcan remembered._

_"Wonder where from," Lysander muttered. He knew there was no chance of getting back to Ollivander's like most of their future school mates would, and their wands would end up being from a random wand maker who lived in the depths of the jungle._

_"That'll be fun," Lorcan mused._

_Suddenly the twins heard clapping from outside. It was their parents, who had sat up to see that midnight had come. There were no fireworks – on an uninhabited Japanese island, you wouldn't expect them._

_"Happy New Year," the twins chorused to each other._

_Lysander turned to look seriously at Lorcan. "Lorcan," he began. Lorcan immediately recognised the tone. It was the one his brother used when he was telling him something 'for his own good.' _ _Lorcan didn't mind it – he was glad Lysander cared - but he did completely ignore it._

_"I want you to survive this year to see next New Year," Lysander said. "And you won't do that without food and water. You've been rationing yours – you've had practice, but the group needs you. You have jungle expertise, after all. More than me – you're actually interested in all the plants and animals around you. Take some extra from the box."_

_Lorcan smiled. "Trust you to suggest that. You're so protective of me. But I'm fine. I'll last. The others need it more, and it's wrong to just take it."_

_Lysander opened his mouth to continue to argue, but Lorcan simply said, "Night, Sandy," and rolled over._

_"Hang on," Lysander complained, but his voice was suddenly replaced by another one. A female one, less well-known but still familiar._

"Wake up," Alice cried, shaking the twins out of their sleep.

"I already did watch duty," Lysander groaned, trying to roll over.

"It's not that, we've worked out the code!" Alice rushed back over to Rose, who had found a pen and was scribbling words down on a Cauldron Cake wrapper.

Kicking Albus awake on his way over, Lysander stood over the two girls, leaving Lorcan and Albus to wake the others.

"So what was the code?" he asked.

"They were normal letters," Alice explained. "But they were all turned on their side, upside down, mirror-images – so it didn't look like it made sense."

"But it does now," Rose said happily, dropping her pen. "I think I've got it all. Listen!"

As the other seven, who were now fully awake, listened, Rose recited,

** _"The more I am clever, the more I am good,_ **   
** _ The more, as a rule, I am misunderstood."_ **

_"_Then there's a big gap, then:

** _Provider, Devourer, a double-edged blade,_ **   
** _ Man he has tamed her, accepting this trade._ **   
** _ Ravenously hungry, must all the time feed,_ **   
** _ Yet drink she must not, this can kill her indeed._ **

** _What has roots as nobody sees,_ **   
** _ Is taller than trees,_ **   
** _ Up, up it goes_ **   
** _ And yet never grows?_ **

** _You cannot live with me, but you cannot live without_ **   
** _ I am silent as a whisper, louder than a shout,_ **   
** _ I am turned by the pebble, I can slice through the boulder,_ **   
** _ I can keep you warm, I will make you colder_ **

** _Voiceless but I cry,_ **   
** _ Wingless though I flutter,_ **   
** _ Toothless yet I bite,_ **   
** _ Mouthless and still I mutter."_ **

_"_And then there's another big gap, then it just says 'put us together in this place and you'll see what this clue was meant to be." Frowning, Rose fell silent. 


	5. Chapter 5

"That's…..weird," Albus muttered.

"They're riddles," Lorcan said.

"What are the answers, though?" Lysander asked.

"The second one is a mountain," Rose said. "I know that one, I read it somewhere."

Albus rolled his eyes. "Of course," he mouthed at Scorpius, who stifled a grin.

"What gives us stuff and eats it too?" Aisha asked.

"Rivers? They can provide fish to live on, and they can also flood your house," Lia suggested.

"But water kills it," Scorpius pointed out.

"Fire." Alice said suddenly. "Fire fits that."

"I think I've heard the last one," Aisha frowned. "I just can't remember what it is. It's something like cold….no, it's the wind!"

"Fire, mountains, something, wind." Rose stared at her writing. "There ought to be a pattern…what fits with all of those, and the riddle?"

"Isn't the answer something like time?" Alice said. "I've heard it before too."

"No, that's a different one." Lia sighed. "Besides, time doesn't make you warm or cold."

"But water does. And it can be little, so pebbles move it, but it can erode boulders and stuff." Rose said excitedly.

"And you drown if you're in it, but you can't live without it." Alice nodded. "That's it. We've only got the first one left now, then we have to put all five together, here."

"The more I am clever, the more I am good, The more, as a rule, I am misunderstood." Lorcan repeated.

Nobody spoke.

"It could be Rose?" Scorpius suggested. Albus grinned.

Rose, surprisingly, did too. "Or my mum."

"So, a scientist?" Lysander suggested. "Or a genius."

"Thanks," Rose replied.

Lorcan laughed suddenly. "It's a riddle," he said again.

"We know," Aisha said. "But we haven't got the answer."

"No, it's a riddle," he insisted.

Rose gasped. "He's right! The answer to the riddle – it's a riddle. That bit's just telling us that these are all riddles."

"Oh, you're kidding," Lysander groaned. "We worked that out ourselves, thanks very much."

"Don't complain, we've got them all now," Albus said excitedly.

"Fire, mountain, water, wind. 'Put us together in this place'..." Aisha frowned. "Am I the only one seeing a problem?"

"You mean, how do we get a mountain here?" Lysander asked.

"Exactly."

"It probably doesn't mean an actual mountain," Rose pointed out. "It might be a metaphor, or mean part of a mountain."

"So we could just use rock?" Scorpius asked.

"I expect so. Or earth – the four answers seem to be trying to represent the four elements."

"So, we need a pile of earth, some fire, some water and some wind," Lysander summarized.

Rose was quick to take charge. "Scorpius, Albus, go get some water," she ordered. "And get it from the lake this time, not the plant that's probably poisonous."

"How did she-?" Scorpius began to ask, but Albus just shook his head and towed the blond boy out.

"Don't ask," he advised.

"Lorcan, Lysander, go gather up some earth." As the twins departed, Rose turned to the three girls remaining. "I trust girls to get a branch and bring some fire over here more than I do boys. Wonder why?"

Aisha grinned. Lia tore a strip of cloth from her cloak and handed it to Aisha, who wrapped it around one of the sticks.

"When they get back, one of you hold that above the earth. And I guess blowing on it will have to do for wind."

They waited to light the cloth in the fire until the other four had returned.

Lorcan dumped the mound of earth directly in front of the patterned wall. Making a well in the middle, Rose gestured for Scorpius to pour out the water they'd gathered. Aisha walked over, holding the now-lit torch. As she held it above the mixed earth and water, Rose leaned forward and blew. She managed to exhale for a ridiculously long time, but eventually she had to sit back, gasping for breath.

"Is something supposed to happen now?" Lysander began to ask, but didn't finish.

The mud rose up and into the flame, where it seemed to set alight. Surprisingly, Aisha didn't drop the torch, though her arms did shake slightly. Lia put a comforting hand on her shoulder. The glowing mud flew to the opposite wall flew to a clear space on the ground, where it began to make letters, and a picture. Slowly it stopped flying into the torch, which extinguished itself with a hiss. All eight of them gathered around the mud.

Rose read it out. "'_**You can leave at the bottom of the lake. There is a Portkey to Hogwarts there. Congratulations on reaching this far**_'. Then there's a picture of what looks like a Plimpy with its legs tied together. I guess that's the Portkey."

"What on Earth's a Plimpy?" Aisha asked, craning to look at the image. Lia had already explained what a Portkey was while Rose had been talking.

"It's a kind of magical frog, that looks like a pebble with legs," Albus answered.

"Actually, it's a fish," Lorcan informed them. "Not an amphibian, like a frog is."

"We should send someone to check if it's there," Lysander said. "And hopefully drag it out, so we don't all have to swim down."

"How is anyone supposed to drag it out without touching it?" Rose asked.

"A rope," Aisha suggested. "They don't transport you through a rope, do they?"

"I don't think so," Rose answered. Albus got to his feet. "Okay, me and Scorpius will go check it out," he said. "Anyone got a rope?"

"Wait a second!" Rose cried. "Why are you and Scorpius going and getting it?"

Neither answered. It could be because there was no reason to it, or just because when an angry Rose was standing face-to-face with you, you didn't draw her attention.

"Rose is right," Aisha added. "The strongest swimmers should go."

"What if we are the strongest swimmers?" Scorpius asked.

"How do we know if you are?" Rose countered. "I know that I'm faster than Albus, for a start."

"You've only beaten me in a race twice!" Albus protested.

"But one of those was our most recent race," Rose pointed out.

"Why don't you have a race now?" Lysander suggested. "Everyone who wants to try should get a go." He looked at the other seven. "I don't want to swim down and fetch it. Does anyone else _not_ want to get it?"

"Me," Alice immediately answered. "I'll judge the race."

So the other six ended up, having stripped off their outer robes, treading water in the lake. Strangely, nobody questioned if now was the time for a swimming race. Alice stood in line with them, whilst Lysander was at the finishing line.

"On your marks," Alice began, "get set, go!"

And they were swimming. It was a fifty metre race since, although the lake was nowhere near that deep, they were also choosing for stamina. Albus took an early lead, whilst the others stayed mostly in a line. Around twenty metres in, Rose put on a surge and overtook Albus, who dropped into joint third place with Aisha, Scorpius being in second, Lia in fourth and Lorcan just behind her. Ten metres later, Lia had overtaken Albus, who was now drawing even with Lorcan. Scorpius and Rose were level-pegging at the front, Aisha a few seconds behind them. With ten metres to go, Scorpius had steamed ahead of Rose, who had dropped into joint third place with Lia, Scorpius being first and Aisha still at his heels.

Aisha put on a burst of speed, and beat Scorpius to the finishing line by over a second.

Scorpius, with Lia closely following him, came in second. Lorcan had beaten both Rose and Albus to arrive fourth, whilst an exhausted Rose and Albus arrived together, having used up their energy to try and beat each other.

Alice, Lia, Lorcan and Lysander clapped for Aisha and Scorpius, as Rose and Albus were far too tired to do so.

"I thought you lived away from the sea," Albus pointed out to Aisha as they regained their breath on the lake bank.

"Swimming pools, Al," Rose interrupted.

"Exactly. My oldest sister's a lifeguard, so she can get me in free. And always does, when she has to babysit us."

After only a few minutes recovery, Aisha was ready to go. Scorpius took another minute, whilst Lysander found them a rope by twisting up and knotting his cloak. Taking a deep breath, the pair dived. It took them only seconds to reach the lake bottom, but then they faced the far more difficult task of locating the Portkey. By silent consent, they split up and began to study the lake floor. When Aisha spotted what looked like a pebble with legs, she let out an 'eep' to alert Scorpius, whilst internally sighing with relief. She'd had a few concerns over whether she should swim down and try to find this Plimpy thing, on the basis she wasn't entirely certain what it looked like. But she'd come down anyway, and it now turned out that it was quite distinctive, made of white marble and nearly knee-high.

Scorpius reached her with the rope. He squinted at her through the water. That was something they hadn't considered – they'd be underwater. Doing a speed test above water was all very well, but they should have checked for underwater vision and how long they could hold their breath. It had been harder getting down with the amount of air in Aisha's lungs, but she'd done so anyway. She was fortunately quite practiced at underwater swimming – it was the best way to escape her siblings and she loved the silence that surrounded you when you were beneath the surface.

She released a few bubbles to ease the pressure growing in her lungs. Scorpius was swimming round the Plimpy statue, trying to loop the rope through its legs without touching it. It was impossible. His legs were kicking everywhere and he just couldn't stay steady for long enough. Suddenly, Aisha had a brainwave. Kicking over, she tapped Scorpius on the shoulder and tried to motion what she wanted to do. It took a few repetitions, but he understood eventually. Nodding, he passed her the rope. Her hands were smaller than his, after all. Then he held onto her waist. Aisha stopped kicking, relaxing her body and blowing out a few more bubbles so she wouldn't be pulling towards the surface as much. With Scorpius stabilizing her, she let him edge her closer until she was able to very slowly push the rope through the crossed legs of the Plimpy, then even more slowly withdrew her hand.

Once that was done, she kicked Scorpius gently to let him know that she was done. He pulled her back just as slowly, before letting her go. Swimming around to the other side, he grabbed hold of one side of the rope. With her hand fastened around the other end, they both tried to swim for the surface. But the Plimpy wouldn't budge. They tried two more times until finally, with lungs bursting for air and an odd clicking beginning to resonate in their ears, Aisha let go of her side of the rope and the two of them kicked for the surface.

Whilst Scorpius and Aisha vanished beneath the water, Alice shivered slightly in the air on the lake. Twice she nearly turned to say something to Rose, then stopped. Finally she stood and announced "I'm just going back to get my cloak."

This might not have seemed out of place in London, but wherever they were was extremely warm – those who had entered the water were almost dry by now. Admittedly, Alice had positioned herself out of the sun, claiming skin that was sensitive to burning. Rose knew she should also be in the shade, but couldn't bring herself to step out of the warmth.

Alice left. Releasing the breath she'd been holding in sympathy with the swimmers, Lia followed her. They both arrived in the cave.

"What's wrong?" Lia asked.

"What makes you think something's wrong?" Alice retorted.

Lia didn't even have to answer. She put a comforting hand on Alice's arm. "It's alright, if you're scared," she said.

"But that's just it! I'm not scared about the right stuff! I'm not scared that we won't get back to Hogwarts! I'm not scared about the Chimaera appearing again. I'm scared of going down there."

"Into the lake?"

"Into water. I can't swim, Lia."

"And you're upset as well because you think your fear makes no sense. You should be more scared of man-eating monsters."

"Exactly."

"Why? How many times in your life are you going to face a Chimaera? You've probably exhausted your ration for the next couple of decades."

"Wait until we start Care of Magical Creatures," Alice muttered.

"My point is, your fear is completely rational. You can't swim, so you're scared of drowning. And you're scared of everyone realizing you can't swim."

Alice stared at Lia, astonished. "I didn't even say that bit," she gasped. "How do you know?"

"You don't like not knowing things," Lia pointed out. "I could tell from how delighted you were that the code was worked out. But don't worry. They're trying to bring the Portkey up. Even if they don't manage that, nobody has to know. Hold my hand, and kick your feet a bit, and I'll pull you down. You don't need to know how to swim, just don't panic. I won't let you drown, and neither would the others if they saw you getting into trouble. Aisha probably knows some life-guarding, and what do you bet that Rose or the twins will know some too?"

Alice smiled weakly. "You mean it? And you won't tell anyone that I had this little panic?"

"Why would I?" Lia said gently, and picked up Alice's cloak. "Come on, they've probably got back by now."

They had. They'd just cleared the surface, and were clinging to the banks, gasping. Aisha dipped her head back underwater to relieve the overheating the exertion had brought, while Scorpius stayed very still and waited for the black spots dancing in his vision to clear.

"So?" Rose asked impatiently.

Scorpius shook his head. "It wouldn't budge. We're all going to have to swim down."

Rose didn't look too devastated, probably because she'd been wishing she'd get the chance.

"Do we bring the box of food?" asked Lysander.

"The writing said we were going to Hogwarts," Lia pointed out, as she and Alice rejoined the group.

"And you trust it? It was a glowing ball of mud."

"It'll just get wet," Aisha pointed out. Albus had given her and Scorpius a hand out of the lake, and she now sat on the bank with them.

"We'll just bring the water then. That's what's most important." Rose decided.

They returned to the cave to pack up, Lysander tucking the remaining Skiving Snackboxes into his pocket. They were in a waterproof packet, and had proved so useful that he didn't want to lose them. Rose divided up the water in the flasks whilst people ate whatever they wanted out of the food box. Lorcan swirled his water in its bottle, gazing at it.

"See, there was no need for borrowing," he murmured, presumably to himself. Apart from Lysander, none of the others heard. Lysander just shrugged and passed it off as Lorcan being Lorcan. He, like the other six, had forgotten the dream completely.

Within fifteen minutes, they were packed and ready to go. They left the cave, some without a second glance, others with a slight wistfulness for what were strangely happy memories, or life-changing events. The eight of them gathered by the river bank. Water bottles were shoved into the deep pockets of their robes. Although their shoes would make it harder to swim, they'd decided to take them – whether the Portkey dumped them at Hogwarts or not, they'd probably need shoes.

With varying degrees of eagerness, they slipped into the water. Aisha and Scorpius, still wet, were happy to get back in, whilst the others were long dry and shivered at the shock of the chilly water. Rose swam out to the centre of the lake, as did the others, Lia and Alice following slightly behind. Lia was surreptitiously supporting Alice's weight with one arm, and encouraging her to kick with her legs.

"Everyone ready?" Albus asked when they had all gathered.

They nodded with varying degrees of impatience.

"Nobody touch the Portkey," Rose warned. "We should all touch it together, otherwise some of us will be left behind."

Shuddering at the idea of being left behind alone, Aisha nodded. "How weird," she thought. "These people were complete strangers twenty-four hours ago, but now they're friends."

They all continued to tread water for a few more seconds.

"What are we waiting for?" Lysander asked.

"Someone to say go," Lorcan replied. The others grinned.

"That's true," Aisha admitted. "We were all waiting for each other to go first."

"Fine," Rose sighed. "Take a deep breath. Everybody, go!"

They all vanished underwater, Lia only half towing Alice now as she began to copy the others' kicking motions. It took only a little longer than it had for Aisha and Scorpius to reach the floor, but once they did, Aisha frowned, trying to remember where the Portkey had been. Thankfully Scorpius had remembered, and he led them over to it. They gathered in a circle, more than one of them trying to work out how to simultaneously stay underwater and in the same place without kicking each other

Rose held up three fingers. "One," she mouthed, taking down the third finger.

"Wait!" Lia suddenly cried, bubbles coming out of her mouth. Everyone looked at her. "We should all connect," she said, then, when nobody understood, showed what she meant by fastening one hand onto Alice's shoulder, leaving one of her hands still free to grab the Portkey.

Everyone hastened to follow suit, joining onto someone else with one hand and leaving the second free until they were an unbroken circle. That way, nobody could be left behind.

"One," Rose began again, "Two, Three!"

On three, everyone touched their free hand to the Portkey. Aisha was the only one who had never travelled by Portkey before, and she nearly gasped. Thankfully, she remembered she was underwater a second before she did so. It felt like someone had attached a hook to her waist and then started pulling it from a crane.

Then she hit the ground with a smack, and it felt a lot more like pain than anything else.

"Ow," Aisha gasped, rubbing her elbow, which had been mainly what she'd landed on. Her thin, wet robes had been little protection. "Wait a second – they're not wet anymore. When did that happen?" She looked up to see if the others were dry too, and froze. Then, a moment later, "Wow."

She staggered to her feet, gazing at the splendour around her. Somewhere in the back of her mind, it registered that all eight of them were there, along with roughly thirty other people. But something else was a far more interesting sight.

It was like the inside of a castle – her school had been on trips to Warwick Castle, and this reminded her of that. Huge doors, stone walls, sweeping staircases, tapestries, for crying out loud. This had to be Hogwarts.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," a voice announced seconds later. Aisha smiled inwardly at the immediate confirmation of her guess. She refocused her attention on the man speaking.

"I'm Professor Longbottom, Deputy Headmaster. I teach Herbology and those of you who are Sorted into Gryffindor will come to meet me as your Head of House. I'm glad to see you've all arrived now, mostly whole. If you'd just line up in alphabetical order, please."

A moment of confusion followed, as people wondered how they were supposed to do that without knowing people's names. Aisha looked at her new friends. Rose was the first to take the initiative.

"I'm Weasley, so I'll be right at the back," she announced. Others followed her lead. Aisha sought out Lorcan and Lysander, remembering that their last name had been Scamander, which must be pretty close to Siddiqui.

Lorcan was being towed by Lysander towards the back of the line. She followed them, then watched as the chaos gradually organized himself. A broad boy with red-blonde hair stopped in front of Scorpius. "You must be a Malfoy," he announced, "so I'm in front of you."

He didn't bother to introduce himself, but positioned himself between Scorpius and Alice. "Alice Longbottom, right?" The boy asked. Not waiting for a reply, he continued with "Wayne Macmillan."

Alice nodded. "We've met, your family came to my parents' fifteenth wedding anniversary." She didn't sound overly delighted at the recollection.

Aisha gazed up and down the line of students. Lia was second from the front. Aisha gave her a little wave and Lia responded in kind, before suddenly turning away to speak to the boy trying to catch her attention.

"Buckley?" he asked.

Lia got his meaning. "You're in front of me. I'm Creeevey, and she's Anderton."

Another boy and a girl also moved in front of Lia, leaving her fifth. Rose wasn't at the back of the line anymore, and another girl had appeared to separate Alice from Wayne Macmillan.

"Follow me, please," Professor Longbottom called. Aisha glanced between him and Alice, looking for the resemblance. There wasn't much of one, although the scars on their Professor's cheek reminded her of scars Alice had mentioned.

"Isn't he going to explain what happened to us?" a boy who was separated from Aisha by three other people muttered. "The Sorting isn't normally like that."

Somehow, Professor Longbottom heard and glanced back. "I'm leaving that to our Headmistress," he called. The boy flushed and looked away, embarrassed at being overheard.

"Did you end up on a desert island too?" Aisha asked him.

"Yes!" gasped a girl between Aisha and the boy who had spoken earlier. "Me and everyone else on our boat!"

She stuck out a hand. "Demelza, by the way."

"Aisha. Was there a cave there as well?"

"And the boat mysteriously had oars and a box of food all of a sudden?" The first boy asked, introducing himself as Anthony.

"Yeah. Did you end up back here by someone drinking the water outside the cave and your stomach seeming pretty close to exploding?" Demelza asked.

"No, we gave Al – who drank the water – a Puking Pastille and he was fine. We got here by solving the riddle and touching the Portkey."

"There was a Portkey?" asked the boy between Demelza and Anthony. "We stayed in the cave the first night, then went rowing back out this morning. But we got caught in a storm and our boat overturned. I must have blacked out when I hit the water because I ended up here."

The girl who was stood next to Aisha frowned. "A cave? We never reached a cave. We woke up on the beach, but there was a...Chimaera, I think it was called? And it basically attacked us! We must have blacked out, because I woke up here."

A babble of conversation broke out along the line. As far as Aisha could tell (and three siblings had given her practice at sorting through noise to get to facts), only two groups had found the Portkey, her own and Anthony's. The other three groups had returned at various stages, one when they were apparently about to be eaten by the Chimaera, the others later on.

When they entered the Great Hall, however, everyone fell silent. Rose looked around to locate her family. The Hall was as impressive as she'd been told in stories, with ghosts gliding everywhere and candles hovering above the tables. Then she saw Roxanne sat at the Gryffindor table and waved. Roxanne waved back, as did several other people – Rose saw Molly, Lucy, James, Dominique and Fred before the Headmistress rose to her feet at the front of the Hall.

The Hat was already on the stool in front of her. It was as shabby as everyone had always said, along with a few singe marks that Rose presumed were from the Battle Of Hogwarts.

"Good evening, everyone," the Headmistress spoke. Slim, with straight shoulder-length brown hair and glasses, she looked to be not much older than Rose's parents, although all the witches and wizards of that time had a habit of looking older than they were, whether it was due to scars or simply a maturity gained too early. But her words carried across the Hall easily.

"I am Professor Adams, and your new Headmistress. And I am aware that I owe these first-years an explanation-" she smiled, as all of the seated students looked baffled. "And now, I owe you one too. I will simply say that Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry has introduced a new method of Sorting, then let the Sorting Hat take over, so that it can broach the subject and I may fill the gaps. After all, I do not have to arrange my explanation into verse."

She returned to her seat and looked expectantly at the Hat. A rip at its brim opened. There were a few gasps from the first-year students, although less than the school would normally expect. Although the rest of Hogwarts didn't know anything out of the ordinary had occurred, most of the new students had filled their capacity to be surprised by this point. And it began to sing.

_For millennia, or more it seemed_   
_ You would put me on_   
_ I'd root around, and shout aloud_   
_ To say where you'd belong _

_But this did depress me_   
_ For as I'd seen quite well_   
_ To divide you into quarters_   
_ Brought many kinds of hell_

_From Dark Lords to schisms_   
_ By way of death and loss_   
_ History would repeat itself_   
_ As heads follows tails in a toss_

_And though I did exhort you_   
_ To encourage unity_   
_ Just twenty years ago yet more_   
_ Murder and mayhem I did see_

_But now no more shall happen?_   
_ Has our lesson at last been learned?_   
_ Have we found a way to prevent the graves?_   
_ To let each House embrace those once spurned?_

_Do not bother to request of me_   
_ The House you would prefer_   
_ For the choices you would make  
_ _My choice, they do not deter_

_F_ _amilies may be split up_   
_ Traditions cast asunder_   
_ But it will all be for the best-  
_ _No, do not look surprised, but wonder_

_What did choice do in this War you have just won?_   
_ But separate a quarter of y_ _our brothers from the 'fun'_

  
_ And hopefully to have _  
_Brothers in each House_   
_ Will discourage the myths there were_   
_ One day Slytherins'll be taking Gryffindors as a spouse_

_And to create more links between you_   
_ And to see where you should go_   
_ We sent you on a quest - however_   
_ You were not in danger, oh no_

  
_ So I have watched your behaviour_   
_ Over this last imaginary day_   
_ And that has equipped me better_   
_ Than ever before to say_

_Whether you belong in Gryffindor_   
_ With the noble and the brave_   
_ The fair maiden, or the fair knight_   
_ Your heart, it did long to save_

_Or if you belong in Ravenclaw_   
_ Where curiosity never killed the cat_   
_ If you were asking all the questions_   
_ In blue might be where you'll be sat_

_Hufflepuffs I can identify_   
_ By their loyal kindness_   
_ If you helped a friend in need_   
_ You are worth more, not less_

_Slytherins have the reputation_   
_ But it's not always deserved_   
_ I looked not for evildoers but for ambition_   
_ And using cunning to keep lives preserved_

_So step along, one at a time_   
_ You can put me on_   
_ I'll tell you why, I'll tell you where_   
_ But the decision has already gone_


	6. Chapter 6

There was silence echoing through the Hall for an instant and then everybody suddenly began to whisper at once. Professor Adams stood up once more.

"Thank you," she said, inclining her head to the Hat. It half-bowed in return. "So, that was the basics of what has occurred. The first-years did undergo a sort of quest, although their bodies were at all times lying safely in the castle. The Hat has been able to watch these quests and has decided on the basis of this where our students will be Sorted. Even those quests which were unsuccessful and therefore shorter were, it has assured me, plenty long enough for it to assign you to a House." She looked at them all, face calm.

"This is being done to encourage friendships between the Houses. I hope that some of you have made friends already, and that you will maintain those friendships regardless of the House you are Sorted into. To aid that, there is a new, Inter-House Common Room which has passages to all the other Common Rooms – not that this is an encouragement to be out after curfew. Sleepovers with other Houses may be allowed, if cleared with your Heads of House first, and the other people in your dormitory. In future, meal tables will be tables of six, other than for Feasts. I am aware that you are all hungry, or eager to be Sorted but there is just one more thing I must say. This is a secret. Before you leave the Hall this evening, you must sign the parchment agreeing to keep this a secret. It won't be effective if new students are aware that they are being Sorted. Your parents are being told, and so you may discuss it with them. Younger siblings, however, cannot find out. Nor can those who do not attend Hogwarts. It will be a secret only for those who attend Hogwarts or have attended it. And I hope it will be a productive one."

She didn't mention the various spells that had been laid on them, including the charms to keep them calm, and a strong magical suggestion that they talk and share more than eleven year old strangers might otherwise, only looked at Neville. "By all means, Professor Longbottom, start Sorting."

Neville walked forward, a parchment stretched between his hands.

"Anderton, Rebecca," He called. As the brown-haired girl at the front of the line stumbled past him, he whispered a reminder to her to put the Hat on, just in case she had already forgotten the Song in her terror. She did so, and seconds later the Hat cried "GRYFFINDOR!"

Neville directed her to the right table, although it was quite obviously the ones who were cheering. Buckley, Richard and Burke, Amy followed her, both of them heading to Hufflepuff. Meghan Blackmoor became the first new Slytherin before it was Lia's turn.

"Creevey, Amelia," Neville announced. Lia walked forwards, smiling at the hissed 'good luck' from one of her friends behind her. She sat on the stool and placed the Hat on her head. It fell completely over her head, right down to her mouth.

"Hello?" she asked tentatively.

"Hello, my dear. Sweet little thing, aren't you. You helped your friends, calmed them down, let them argue when they needed to. Wouldn't dream of being dishonest and cheating them out of water."

"Of course not!" she gasped, not realising she'd already faced this test once. The Hat laughed.

"I know you wouldn't. I've found all this out already. You belong in HUFFLEPUFF!"

Lia took off the Hat and followed Neville's directions to the House where two other first-years already sat. She took a seat next to them.

"Amy Burke," a black-haired girl introduced herself, offering a hand.

"Lia Creevey," Lia replied, shaking it. "How was your quest then?"

"Fun," Amy replied happily. "At least until Branwen went and drank that infected water. Then we all ended back here."

Lauren Holroyd, a brunette with a smile so wide it looked as if it might break her face joined them moments later, followed by Robert Jordan, a black boy who greeted Richard Buckley like old friends. They'd been on the same boat, Lia realised. Amy burst into applause when Duncan Kirke was Sorted into Ravenclaw, the first to go there. The second years and above looked at her strangely.

"He belongs there," Amy explained. "He was so smart, he'd nearly figured out that code when Bran's stomach started growing like crazy."

Lia focused on the Sorting. One boy until Alice – Landers, Edward was Sorted into Slytherin and then Alice's name was called. She sauntered forward, looking calm as anything. Doing a little wave at her Dad, Alice seated herself on the stool, crossing her legs. She placed the Hat over her head.

"One of yours?" Amy asked. She was definitely the talkative type. "The Longbottoms have always been Gryffindors, but her mother was a Hufflepuff. She might end up here."

"I doubt it," Lia murmured. She blinked at Amy. "How do you know all that about her?"

"Pure-blood for generations," Amy shrugged. "I was taught all this in the cradle. Point out any pure or half blood and I could tell you their parents and probably grandparents, Lia Creevey, daughter of Dennis Creevey, Gryffindor and Muggleborn. Thankfully none of our family was at the Hogwarts age during the Second Wizarding War. We just didn't pick sides. Self-preservation is major feature. I don't see the point really. What would have the point in preserving ourselves if Voldemort had won?"

The Hat was talking to Alice, who felt slightly uncomfortable trusting something with her future when she couldn't even see where it thought, let alone how. The Hat chuckled. "You do like knowing things, don't you? You'd learn everything if you could, just so you didn't have to ask questions."

_"I know you should have been burnt to cinders_," Alice thought at it.

"Along with your father," the Hat agreed amiably. "But we're both here. Wonderful, isn't it? Anyway, you're quite different to your parents. And let's see how they react when I put you in RAVENCLAW!"

The Ravenclaw table erupted into applause. It was only their second chance to do so, plus they were getting the child of the Head of another House. It was always fun when that happened. Alice strolled back past her father, who didn't look all that surprised, to take a seat at the Ravenclaw table. She slid in opposite to the boy who had been Sorted previously.

"Duncan, right?" she asked, leaning forward to offer her hand. "Alice Longbottom."

"Nice to meet you," he replied, shaking it. "Are you glad to be Sorted here?"

Alice pursed her lips slightly, leaning her chin on her hand as she thought. "I think so. I knew I didn't belong in Gryffindor or Hufflepuff. I did think I might be in Slytherin, so I'm kind of relieved, since then my Dad would have killed me. Mind you, it would have been fun."

She smirked, and listened as Macmillan, Wayne was called out. "GRYFFINDOR!" The Hat called. Alice let out a slight sigh of relief. Wayne annoyed her. He thought he was the most important thing since the world began, and would drone on about his favourite topics for ours. If girls even tried to interrupt, he'd simply patronise them. Their mothers had been best friends, and Susan Bones had been apparently very sweet – but Wayne, named after a friend who died in the War, was not. Then she watched as her father called "Malfoy, Scorpius."

His face didn't betray even a hint of dislike as Scorpius walked past him, although there were a few mutters around the Hall.

Alice's mouth twisted wryly, thinking, "_You'd never guess that the Malfoy name is generally cursed around my house, although that is mainly by Mum. And I'd never ever have guessed a day ago that I'd be calling him by his first name_." She didn't even remember when she'd decided to do that, only that it had occurred.

Scorpius sat on the stool and pulled the Hat over his eyes, glad to block out the stares. "Where am I going then?" he demanded.

"You do like to cut to the chase, don't you? Remember this is the only chance I get for conversation all year and let me have my little mutter."

"Sorry. Go ahead."

The Sorting Hat gave a little laugh. "No need. You've said it all for me in that little invitation. You don't want me to, but you'll nobly let me. Could be Hufflepuff, for that patience, but you'd never have asked if it was. But none of the others are even a question. It's obvious where you belong, and it's lucky that you'll have the bravery to survive in GRYFFINDOR!"

Scorpius began to walk to his House table amid utter silence at first, before mutters and whispers of shock began to spread. Professor Longbottom's jaw had dropped. He recovered quickly though, and began to clap for his silent House, who began to follow suit. But the applause was still quieter than the overall whispering. Scorpius ignored this, knowing that now would have been a good time to have cultivated the blank Malfoy mask that Dad had said he had been brought up needing to have. Then he heard clapping begin simultaneously from the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables.

_ "Are they clapping because I wasn't placed with them?_" a very pessimistic side of him wondered, before he glanced over and realised who it was. Lia and Alice. He smiled, and was still smiling as he settled into a seat, choosing to sit at the end, next to a girl rather than next to Wayne Macmillan, who had so studiously ignored him earlier. For a second, nobody introduced themselves. There were already five Gryffindors. The two girls to his left looked afraid, whilst the one opposite looked distrustful, as did Wayne. The boy next to Wayne, on the other hand, had an inscrutable expression that even Scorpius found hard to read.

_"Someone's no doubt been telling them stories. I expect the frightened ones are Muggleborns who think I'm going to crazy and attack them."_ Then the girl next to him smiled. She had been talking to Wayne, but now she introduced herself.

"I'm Branwen Kendrick," she said. "I'm Muggleborn."

Scorpius knew this was a test, although his father would have considered it an unsubtle one. "Scorpius Malfoy," he said, smiling back. "Nice to meet you."

More introductions followed, a cascade of names - Rebecca, Gabriel, Aileen - washed over Scorpius as two boys in a row were Sorted into Ravenclaw. There hadn't been a new addition to the Slytherin table for some time, but Wayne Macmillan still glanced at the table of that House before speaking to Scorpius.

"Will your family be disappointed you weren't Sorted into Slytherin?"

"I think my Mum and Dad'll be happy. Will yours be upset that you're not a Hufflepuff?" asked Scorpius, with just a hint of bite in his voice.

"No." Macmillan said, but didn't elaborate. More Ravenclaws followed, girls this time, along with a boy for Hufflepuff. Then Daisy Peakes arrived in Gryffindor, all massive smiles.

"I'm so happy that Natasha got into Slytherin," she gushed. "She really, really wanted to. And she suited it, she was so cunning."

"How do you know that?" Wayne asked. "Our quest only lasted about half an hour before that monster turned up and attacked us." Before Daisy could reply, the conversation stopped instantly when Potter, Albus was called. All the older years craned to look. If you had even a drop of magical blood, you'd grown up knowing the name. If you'd attended third-year, OWL level or NEWT level History of Magic lessons, you knew the name. The few Muggleborns who didn't were quickly being enlightened. The stares were so thick that Albus could feel them as he settled onto the stool and pulled the Hat. To his surprise, it was laughing.

"Really set the cat among the pigeons when I Sorted young Malfoy into Gryffindor, didn't I? They're all wondering now, if a Malfoy can go to Gryffindor maybe a Potter could not. Oh, to see their faces if I Sorted you into Slytherin."

"Does that mean you're not going to? Sort me into Slytherin, I mean?"

"You should get rid of the prejudice you have against them. It'll be a problem in future years if you don't."

"I'm not prejudiced! I just don't think I'd fit in."

"Well, you wouldn't." The Hat conceded. "I nearly put your father there because he did have the drive to prove himself. The ambition. You have none of that. You stood between your friends and that Chimaera because it was the right thing to do. You turned down the extra water because it was dishonourable, and others needed it more. So no, I won't get to see their faces. I'll have to wait for another to do that. Because you belong in GRYFFINDOR!"

The table roared with applause, nearly deafening some of the students. Albus removed the Hat and hurried along the table, grinning at his cousins and avoiding James' outstretched leg. And, to everyone's surprise, he sat next to Scorpius.

"Congratulations on being in Gryffindor! I knew you'd end up here, you definitely belong." Albus said in one huge rush.

"You too. Glad to be with your family?"

Albus sent a long look up the table. "Maybe not. Maybe I should go get reSorted." They both laughed. Introductions were being made on the Gryffindor table once more when Scamander, Lorcan was called. Both Albus and Scorpius noticed Lysander giving his twin a subtle push, and grinned.

"Nice to meet you," Lorcan said happily to the Hat once it was on his head.

"And yourself. A lot like your mother, aren't you? She had a lot of bravery too. A shame that Gryffindor missed out on her, but she had a philosophical curiosity that deserved Ravenclaw."

"And me? How did I do in that dream test?"

"You remember that? Of course, you were woken before the end. Everyone else forgot, you see, although a few Ravenclaws have questioned me when I've mentioned it in my little chat here. But you refused to cheat for noble reasons."

"Why would other people refuse to cheat?" Lorcan asked, curious.

"Well, a Slytherin would refuse because it compromised their ambition, or their family or it wasn't practical. Ravenclaws because it wasn't logical. Hufflepuffs because it was dishonest, because it wasn't fair. As for yourself, because it was wrong. Or because others needed it far more. That applies to GRYFFINDOR!"

Lorcan removed the Hat and nodded to it. It tilted its tip just slightly, and Lorcan walked calmly to Gryffindor amid the applause. Scamander was quite famous, if you looked at the authors of your textbooks. A required text for Care of Magical Creatures was "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them", which now bore the words 'revised and edited by Rolf and Luna Scamander'. Lorcan sat with Scorpius and Albus, but they didn't have time to talk before "Scamander, Lysander" was called.

Lysander sighed as he pulled the Hat on. "Troubled?" it asked. "No. It's just going to be strange being so far away from Lorcan." "How do you know you're not going to end up in Gryffindor?"

"The day I see an actual Crumple-Horned Snorkack will be the day a person like me ends up in Gryffindor. I'm hardly chivalrous, or brave."

"New dimensions to you every second, aren't there? You're one of the hardest people I've ever Sorted. Intelligent enough to be Ravenclaw, but their philosophical discussions bore you. Kind and patient enough to be Hufflepuff, but you're neither the most honest nor the most hard-working. Noble enough, and brave enough to be Gryffindor, whatever you might think. Not particularly self-sacrificing, however. Hugely protective of your family. That's quite a Slytherin trait, these days. But your mind is what gives you away. Seeking those odd little directions others might miss. Cunning. You have it by the buckets. No direct ambition as yet, but with your set of skills, you'll end up somewhere. And hopefully you'll be helped on your way in SLYTHERIN!"

The Slytherin table applauded as Lysander headed towards them, Lorcan clapping too. He sat down and smiled around at the others. There were quite a lot of new Slytherins so far, and it took a few seconds to get all the names and faces arranged in his head. Aisha walked forwards as her name was called, filled with relief. She was sorry for Lysander, not ending up with his twin, but now she would be with a friend, no matter what House the Hat called out. She sat down and pulled it on, wondering what to expect. Lia had warned her that it spoke to you - but that didn't stop her from jumping when it did.

"You were interesting," the Hat commented in her ear. "A dead cert for Gryffindor, or so I thought at first. Sure, you were afraid at first – but then you stood up to that Chimaera, though you had the least experience. But I got a better look into your mind when you fell asleep. That ambition! So full of it that I could taste it. Once upon a time it was to go to a top-ranking university, although nobody in your family had ever done so before. Now you're not certain, you don't know enough of the wizarding world. But you know you want to end up with one of the highest jobs. You notice things that might help you with your ambition; you question people not because you're interested in facts like a Ravenclaw but so that you are aware of how they fit into your world view."

"You make me sound awful!" Aisha gasped, and then froze. "Can people hear me?" she asked.

"Of course not! Everything you say is under a silencing charm. Anyway, I don't mean that you interrogate people consciously. And they're flattered when you learn their name, or remember their history. You put intelligence to a good use. Work hard for what you want. You wouldn't be opposed to a spot of trickery, but not for what matters – it takes away from your feeling of satisfaction when you achieve something."

Aisha felt uncomfortable about the character dissection, but listened intently. Knowing your own faults and strengths was always good.

_"Oh no! Is that what it was talking about? Everything being related to achieving my ambitions."_ she thought, horrified.

"It is what I was talking about. And yes, I can hear what you're thinking. No, I can't see your memories. Only surface thoughts. Any more questions? What House are you heading to? Well, there's only one answer. SLYTHERIN!"

Realising that this was the Hat's version of a dismissal, she took it off and placed it on the seat before heading to the Slytherin table. She smiled in relief at Lysander and sat next to him in the place he squished up to find. "I'm sorry if you're disappointed not to end up with Lorcan, but I am so glad that you're here. Plus Scorpius and Al will look after him."

Lysander smiled at her. "I know. And I can't stick around my twin for the rest of my life. It'll be interesting, being a bit separate. We've always come as a package deal before."

Aisha turned to the rest of the table. "Aisha Siddiqui," she introduced herself. She listened to the names given in return, deciding to follow what the Sorting Hat had said and carry on with being who she'd been before it had said anything. She paid particular attention to the girls, knowing that they would be sharing a dormitory with her. She was used to sharing with her sister, but this would be different.

"_And hopefully better,_" she mused, remembering how many fights she'd had with her sister. Meghan, Violetta and Natasha had all been on the same boat, though they hadn't gotten far. Aisha made a mental note to look up the name 'Goyle' – Violetta had clearly expected a reaction when she'd introduced herself as Violetta Goyle, and not a good one from the look on her face. Meghan was a sweet-looking girl with black hair, but Aisha reminded herself that they had been Sorted here for cunning and ambition, and she probably wasn't as sweet as she looked. She was chatting in a liliting Irish accent to Natasha Jowett, a blonde whose sharp nose gave her otherwise undistinguished face an extra dimension.

Glancing around, Aisha caught Liv Donovan's eye for a moment. The other girl was doing the same as her - sitting silently, taking the measure of her new housemates. They smiled politely and glanced away, distracted by a first-year boy further up the table clapping as Jeremy Towler was Sorted into Ravenclaw. Another boy joined the Slytherin table, choosing to sit with the boy who had clapped. Waring, Abbey was Sorted to Hufflepuff, and then it was Rose's turn.

She walked forward, leaving Imogen Yen as the only student remaining.

"Nice to meet you," the Hat greeted. "It's fascinating, you know. What the mix of your father and mother has made. Her brains, her logic. His tactical skills – I see you're a great chess player too, and I expect you'd be just as good a Quidditch captain. Not as open-hearted as your mother, but a wonderfully open mind. Now that's intriguing, because I'm afraid both your parents lacked that. Like your mother in your absence of faith, which is very different to your father. Not the most trusting individual, are you?"

"What do you say to the Muggleborn students? You can't compare them with their parents." Rose asked.

"Now, was that impatience or curiosity? A bit of both, I'd say. You've certainly plenty of the latter. And the former – that's why you're not a Hufflepuff. You do have bravery, if you have to, but you'd much rather let someone else do it first. Slytherin wouldn't be terrible, though your only ambition is to be known as someone other than your parents' child. But you are logical, and curious. And you love the philosophical details, no matter how pointless they are. That decides it. Please, watch their faces. It'll be hilarious when I shout that you are going to RAVENCLAW!"

The Ravenclaw table burst into applause. They had a Weasley! For the first time in generations. Alice clapped too, delighted and surprised. She'd seen the intelligence in Rose, but she was still a Weasley. Whatever the Hat had said in its song, she'd never expected that. Rose couldn't resist looking at the Gryffindor table. There were several open mouths, including Fred, Dominique and James, although she noticed Albus smiling and muttering something to Scorpius. She saw Roxanne give her a thumbs-up, and grinned back in response. Taking a seat at the Ravenclaw table next to Alice, more than a few shocked faces greeted her.

"You're a Weasley. In Ravenclaw," one girl gasped. Another boy shrugged.

"My dad says that Hermione Weasley could have been a Ravenclaw. She's a genius." He nodded at Rose Weasley. "Jeremy Towler. My Dad was in Gryffindor with your uncles."

"Which ones?" Rose laughed. "I've got way too many."

"Fred and George. They were crazy, according to him. He has the weirdest stories. My mum was in Ravenclaw though."

Imogen Yen joined them at the Ravenclaw table, and as the Sorting Hat was put away, food appeared on their plates. They all began to tuck in, hungry after the strange day they'd experienced. From what the second-years were telling them though, it had all taken place in less than ten minutes in the real world.

"My Mum was Ravenclaw too," Imogen said. "My Dad's a Muggle though, but he works in the MoD - Ministry of Defence, it's the Muggle version of Aurors - so he already knew about our world."

"My parents didn't," a sandy-haired girl, who Alice remembered to be named Kate O'Keefe, sighed. "They're both Muggles, so we all had a bit of a shock when Professor Samson turned up at our door."

"Which one's Professor Samson?" asked the girl next to her, a serious-seeming black girl called Gina Simmons. "It was Professor Longbottom who turned up at my house."

As Kate pointed out Professor Samson, a small, friendly-looking man whose cheeks were splattered with freckles, Duncan Kirke frowned at Alice.

"Professor Longbottom's your Dad, right? So you must know who all the teachers are."

"Pretty much," Alice replied. "If I don't, Rose will. Half of them are probably related to her. The Weasley family extends quite far."

"Can you tell us about them?" Kate asked. "It'd be a lot better if we turned up to our first lessons knowing what to expect."

"Well, my Dad teaches Herbology. He won't yell if you do something wrong, but if you ignore him and hurt the plant then he gets kind of mad. Professor Samson is Head of Hufflepuff, and probably the nicest professor. He teaches Defence Against the Dark Arts, but he's very flexible about homework and stuff. Although, if you keep being late with your work, you'll end up being the test dummy for most of the hexes."

"He's an ex-Auror, so he does know what he's talking about," Rose added. "The Head of Ravenclaw is Professor Flitwick." She pointed him out. "He teaches Charms, and he's quite enthusiastic. But he expects you to pay attention to him. He's quite old-fashioned with his methods, probably because he's the oldest teacher. Professor Pucey is Head of Slytherin." She pointed out a dark-haired, pale-skinned man whose slightly bent-looking nose was offset by strong-looking square chin.

"He's very fair, apparently, but we won't meet him for years, since he teaches Ancient Runes. Sat next to him is Professor Corner. Potions. He can get a bit sarcastic, but remember that he isn't being sarcastic when he talks about how amazing Potions is. He means it. He gets really, really excited about Potions. He doesn't generally mind you laughing about that though."

Alice took over the conversation again. "Professor Hagrid is the one who took us across on the boat. He's pretty enthusiastic about his subject too, he really wants you to just have a go. That's Care of Magical Creatures, which we again don't get until third year. Same for Muggle Studies, which is Professor Stebbins." She indicated a man with closely cut brown hair talking to another brunette, a woman this time, whose hair fell in waves over her shoulders.

"He's talking to Professor Whitby, who's going to teach History of Magic. She's new this year, and he's only been here a few years more so I don't know much about them." Alice was getting into her stride now. This was her favourite part of knowing things, and something that she kept quiet – she actually liked tests, because they gave her a chance to say what she knew. "Professor Firenze teaches Divination, although he's not here right now."

"He's the Centaur, right? My Dad told me about him," Anthony Stretton said. "He said Firenze taught really strange things."

"Yeah, he does. Nothing much about crystal balls, but more about stargazing and things. He's helped change the Divination OWL too, so it's more about that, and scrying in smoke and water rather than tea-leaves, which are pretty inaccurate. Professor Sinistra and Professor Vector are the pair talking over there. They're best friends, apparently. They teach Astronomy and Arithmancy, respectively. And the only Professor left is Professor Bell, who does teach us. She teaches Transfiguration, and she expects the best, consistently, out of you. Don't even try telling her that you're having a bad day - she once told a student 'well, glad to know I'm not ruining a good one,' and gave them detention. But she is a good teacher, if you listen."

Similar conversations were taking place across the Hall, if not about the teachers then about the subjects, the dorms, the Quidditch teams, the ghosts, the castle – everything the new students might be interested in. And as the first-years settled into their first meal at Hogwarts, the Headmistress watched.

"It looks like it might have worked," Neville said to her. "All that clapping for friends going into other Houses at the Sorting was a good sign."

"I hope so," she sighed. "As long as they carry on that way, and none of the other years influence them to act otherwise."

"We're going to be more on watch for inter-House fights," Neville pointed out. "And they'll lose more points for those involved. Plus all the Heads of Houses are planning on giving their welcoming speeches on unity."

"Along with how friendship with other Houses doesn't mean that you don't need to beat them in the House Cup," Professor Adams said wryly.

Neville grinned. "Alright, that's a pivotal part. Is and always has been."

"And hopefully, always will be. It's good for them. I think."


End file.
